NORFOLK FINE SANDY LOAM. 



tion. The portions which have been cleared are held in fair esteem for 

 the production of general farm crops. The trucking business is only 

 becoming established locally at a few points. Immediately along 

 the Gulf coast, however, the planting of pecan orchards within the 

 past few years has been quite general. 



In the western Gulf coast region, particularly in northwestern 

 Louisiana and in the east Texas Timber belt, there remain vast areas 

 of this soil type uncleared and uncultivated, although considerable 

 value is attached to the soil for general-farming purposes. Its 

 development as a trucking soil and for peach orcharding has been 

 begun in northeastern Texas. 



TILLAGE REQUIREMENTS. 



It is usually not deemed necessary in the cultivation of the Norfolk 

 fine sandy loam to use either heavy teams or powerful farm ma- 

 chinery. The surface soil is easily broken and turned, and the lighter 

 weight teams and implements give satisfactory results. In fact the 

 more sandy phases should not be plowed to any great depth, but the 

 tillage operations should tend toward packing the soil, in order to 

 give it added moisture capacity and ability to retain both water and 

 fertilizers. Shallow and frequent cultivation for all intertilled crops 

 are required, in order to establish a surface dust mulch to prevent 

 evaporation of moisture. The greatest need of the Norfolk fine sandy 

 loam for increased crop production is probably the incorporation of 

 organic manures, either in the form of well-rotted stable manure or 

 in the form of green cover crops turned under a considerable time be- 

 fore the succeeding crop is to be planted. This is requisite, in order 

 to permit thorough decay of the green crop. The addition of 1,000 

 pounds or more of lime per acre in this connection is deemed ad- 

 visable. For the same reasons it is considered desirable to include 

 some leguminous crop in the farm rotation. Throughout the region 

 cowpeas grow upon this soil to good advantage. 



In certain sections peanuts constitute a good money or forage crop, 

 while in south Georgia, Florida, and Alabama the velvet bean may 

 well be used for this purpose. The use of cotton-seed meal as a source 

 of nitrogen in the application of fertilizer is also to be recommended 

 under most conditions. The use of mineral fertilizers is found to 

 repay the expenditure when sufficient quantities are applied. The 

 character of fertilizer to be used will depend upon the kind of crop 

 to be raised and upon the previous treatment of the particular field 

 or farm. In general it has been found that commercial fertilizers 

 containing 8 to 10 per cent of phosphoric acid, 2 to 4 per cent of 

 potash, and 2 to 3 per cent of ammonia give satisfactory results with 



