THE NORFOLK SANDY LOAM. 9 



it is impossible to ascertain what the yield of grain might be, since 

 the crop is sown chiefly for the purposes of covering the soil during 

 the winter months, and later on cut as hay for the purpose of feeding 

 the work stock during the early spring and summer. It is probable 

 that the grain yield of oats upon the Norfolk sandy loam nowhere 

 exceeds 20 bushels to the acre, and that the average yield is lower 

 than this. 



Cowpeas are being more extensively used each year as a soil reno- 

 vator and forage crop in the South Atlantic States. The crop is well 

 suited to the Norfolk sandy loam, and where the peas are sown broad- 

 cast for hay yields of 2 to even 3 tons of baled hay per acre are se- 

 cured. In some instances the peas are also grown for seed. The 

 growing of this crop is strongly recommended and it should constitute 

 one crop in the regular rotations upon all of the cotton-planting 

 areas occupied by the Norfolk sandy loam. 



In eastern Virginia and some portions of eastern North Carolina 

 the Norfolk sandy loam is recognized as the best soil for the produc- 

 tion of peanuts for market purposes. In these localities the peanuts 

 are planted about the same time as corn. They are cultivated up to 

 the time of blossoming and harvested during October and November. 

 The nuts are then dried for two or three weeks and thrashed. From 

 1 to 2 bushels of unshelled peanuts are planted to the acre in rows 

 from 30 to 36 inches apart. In a favorable season about 50 bushels 

 of nuts and 2 tons of straw per acre are secured. In addition to the 

 production of the crop for the nuts themselves considerable acreages 

 are coming to be planted as pasturage for hog's. The peanut vine 

 hay is considered very good for the feeding of work stock. 



In eastern North Carolina bright cigarette tobacco is grown upon 

 the Norfolk sandy loam, crops ranging from 500 to 1,500 pounds to 

 the acre. Upon well-tilled fields the average yield is between 1,000 

 and 1,200 pounds. The soil type is one of the best for this type of 

 tobacco of any in the eastern portion of the United States. In the 

 production of this crop the Norfolk sandy loam and two of its asso- 

 ciated types have largely taken the place of the sandy soils of the 

 Piedmont section where it was first grown. In the Florida-Georgia 

 tobacco-growing section the shade-grown wrapper tobacco is also pro- 

 duced to advantage upon the Norfolk sandy loam, where the depth 

 to the subsoil does not exceed 10 to 12 inches. If the depth of sur- 

 face soil be greater than this, irrigation is sometimes employed 

 to insure a sufficient supply of mqjsttire during the growing season. 



In southern Georgia, western Florida, and southern Alabama the 

 Norfolk sandy loam is also used extensively for the production of 

 sugar cane for sirup. The cane grown upon this type of soil gives 

 an excellent yield per acre and the sirup is of a light amber color of 

 good flavor. For this reason additional areas of the Norfolk sandy 



