SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES AND THEIR USE XXI. 



THE NORFOLK SAND. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The Norfolk sand is the most widely distributed sand, soil in the 

 Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains regions. It is found in every State 

 from New Jersey, in the North Atlantic Division, southward to 

 Florida, and thence westward along the Gulf coast to Texas. The 

 Norfolk sand has been encountered in 55 areas in 12 different States 

 and has been mapped in these areas by the Bureau of Soils to the 

 extent of 2,542,412 acres. Since these soil surveys cover only about 

 14 per cent of the entire area of the Coastal Plain region within which 

 they have been made, it is easy to calculate that the extent of the 

 Norfolk sand in these 12 States must aggregate many millions of 

 acres. If complete soil surveys had been made of the entire coastal 

 section it would doubtless be found that the Norfolk sand occupies 

 an area of between 17,000,000 and 20,000,000 acres. 



The Norfolk sand is found principally in the lower-lying areas, 

 ranging about 100 miles back from the coast. It is not found in 

 the prairie region of Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi. It is not 

 usually found to any extent along the inland margins of the Coastal 

 Plain, but rather from the actual shore line inland to varying 

 distances, depending upon the local topography and upon the char- 

 acter of marine deposition which has given rise to this and associated 

 soil types. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF SOIL, AND SUBSOIL. 



The characteristic appearance and properties of the Norfolk sand 

 are remarkably uniform when the wide extent of territory within 

 which it is found and the divergent circumstances under which 

 different portions of the type have been brought under cultivation 

 are considered. Typically the Norfolk sand to an average depth 

 of about 6 inches is a gray sand of medium texture. The color of 

 the surface soil frequently varies somewhat, even within the limits 

 of the same field. The higher lying and more completely drained 

 areas will be light gray to nearly white in color, while depressions 



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