SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES AND THEIR USE I. 



THE NORFOLK FINE SANDY LOAM. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 



The soil type known as the Norfolk fine sandy loam extends from 

 Virginia southward along the Atlantic Coast to northern Florida 

 and thence westward through the Gulf region into eastern Texas. 

 Soil surveys throughout this region have included a total of 4,346,672 

 acres of this soil type, occurring in 63 different areas located in nine 

 different States. The Norfolk fine sandy loam is only found within 

 the Coastal Plain section of the United States and at elevations vary- 

 ing from slightly above sea level to an extreme altitude of about 350 

 feet. The greater part of the type, however, lies at altitudes of 25 

 to 200 feet. Its geographic extent covers many million acres, as has 

 been indicated by the soil surveys already made. It is one of the 

 most important types of soil within the region, both from the stand- 

 point of the production of special crops and of general farm crops. 



Since the character of crop which may be grown in any particular 

 locality depends primarily upon the climate of that locality and upon 

 the soil, it follows that the crops best suited to production upon the 

 Norfolk fine sandy loam will vary from place to place as the climatic 

 surroundings of the soil type vary. Thus the localities within which 

 the Norfolk fine sandy loam is principally developed may, for con- 

 venience, be divided into four principal regions. 



The first of these is the Middle Atlantic section, including the States 

 of Virginia and North Carolina. The second is the South Atlantic 

 section, including South Carolina. Georgia, and northern Florida. 

 The third is the Eastern Gulf section, including Alabama, Mississippi, 

 and the portion of Louisiana east of the Pearl River. The fourth 

 is the Western Gulf section, including the northern portion of Louisi- 

 ana and the east Texas timbered region. 



These different regions differ to some extent in the length of grow- 

 ing season and the average temperatures which are maintained dur- 

 ing the growing season, but they probably differ to a greater degree 

 in the amount of rainfall which occurs, both throughout the year and 

 especially throughout the growing season. For these reasons and 

 for others which will appear the crop adaptations of the different 

 sections differ slightly. 



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