4 SOILS OF THE EASTERN UNITED STATES. 



SURFACE FEATURES AND DRAINAGE. 



Throughout all of the areas where it occurs, the Norfolk sandy 

 loam is marked by a nearly level, undulating, or gently rolling sur- 

 face. In very few instances is it more than slightly ridged. The 

 differences in elevation within individual areas rarely reach more 

 than 20 or 25 feet, unless those areas are of considerable extent. 

 The type is found principally in the littoral section of the Atlantic 

 Coastal Plain and the eastern portion of the Gulf region. It rises 

 from near sea level to altitudes of 150 to 200 feet, and probably 

 the greater proportion of the type is to be found between altitudes 

 of 50 and 150 feet above sea level. 



Owing to the textural peculiarities of the type and also to the 

 fact that it lies in somewhat elevated interstream areas, it is usually 

 fairly well drained. Only in shallow depressions which occur within 

 the type and in local areas along the bottoms of some of the larger 

 streams is there any lack of drainage. In general, the type may be 

 characterized as one which absorbs atmospheric moisture readily 

 on account of the loose, porous character of the surface soil, and 

 which also retains that moisture sufficiently to promote the growth 

 of general farm crops through the presence of the heavier sandy 

 loam or sandy clay subsoil at no great depth. Thus the type is 

 possessed of those characteristics with regard to its moisture rela- 

 tionships which render it extremely valuable for the production of 

 general farm crops, and at the same time make it profitable to pro- 

 duce quite a wide range of special crops, particularly the market 

 garden vegetables. 



Erosion is not a serious problem in the case of the Norfolk sandj 

 loam. It is sufficiently absorptive of moisture to prevent the forma- 

 tion of any rapidly flowing streams across the surface in the times 

 of heavy precipitation, and furthermore the slopes within the area 

 of the type are usually so slight that no active stream erosion has 

 yet damaged the soil for agricultural purposes. 



LIMITATIONS IN USE. 



Because of the rather loose texture of the surface soil of the Nor- 

 folk sandy loam it is not particularly well suited to the production 

 of small grains and of grass. Where it is properly tilled the type 

 is well suited to corn, and, in the more southern States, to cotton. 

 These same characteristics make the Norfolk sandy loam suitable 

 for the medium and late season trucking crops, which may be grown 

 within the Atlantic Coastal Plain Region. Those areas located near 

 transportation lines and in regions where unseasonable frosts are 

 not liable to occur may well be used for trucking and market garden- 

 ing. Other areas of the type in the more northern region, less favor- 



