6 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



folk sand have been piled into ancient sand dunes, which are no 

 longer moving, except over small local areas. Dunes of this char- 

 acter are generally located near the inner border of the different 

 regions where the Norfolk sand is developed, and they mark a grada- 

 tion from the level or gently rolling tide-water section of the Coastal 

 Plain into the " sand-hill " belt, which often separates the remainder 

 of the Coastal Plain from the Piedmont Province or from other 

 adjacent inland territory. 



LIMITATIONS IN USE. 



Because of its coarse texture and open, incoherent structure, the 

 Norfolk sand is not usually well suited to the production of the 

 great staple crops grown in general farming. The prevalent lack of 

 organic matter in the surface soil and the free drainage in both 

 surface soil and subsoil tend to make this soil type too droughty 

 during the latter part of the growing season, especially in mid- 

 summer. In consequence, the long-growing crops, which require 

 large amounts of soil moisture for their nourishment at this period, 

 are usually seriously affected and fail to produce satisfactory yields. 

 Corn, oats, wheat, grass, and even cotton can not be produced ad- 

 vantageously upon the Norfolk sand. 



The same textural characteristics and the same lack of organic 

 matter over considerable areas, while adverse to the practices of 

 general farming, tend to constitute in the Norfolk sand practically 

 open-air greenhouse conditions which are particularly favorable to 

 the early tillage of the soil, the early planting of the crop and the 

 forcing to maturity of special products grown for trucking purposes. 

 These vegetables may be planted upon the Norfolk sand at a date 

 considerably earlier than upon any other soil type associated with it 

 in the trucking regions extending from New Jersey southward to 

 eastern North Carolina. Within this region the Norfolk sand is 

 thoroughly appreciated and largely occupied for the production of 

 early truck crops. The soil absorbs the spring rains rapidly. The 

 soil moisture is readily drained downward, and the land, even imme- 

 diately after heavy rainfall, is soon in good condition for tillage 

 operations. As a result vegetables may be planted early and at the 

 latter end of the season, they mature their yield from 1 week to 10 

 days earlier than upon any other soil type in the same general region. 

 Since the profit to be derived from the production of truck crops 

 arises largely from placing them upon the market at the earliest pos- 

 sible moment, the Norfolk sand stands preeminent among all of the 

 soils of the northern Atlantic Coastal Plain for the production of 

 extra early truck crops. 



The practically level surface of the Norfolk sand, its freedom from 

 any serious erosion, and the location of the soil within those regions 



