2 BULLETIN 1005, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



THE NORFOLK TRUCKING DISTRICT. 



LOCATION. 



The Norfolk trucking district is located chiefly within the northern 

 parts of Isle of Wight, Nansemond, Norfolk, and Princess Anne 

 Counties, Va. Even within these counties the production of truck 

 crops is distinctly localized to positions near tidewater, extending 

 from the Lynnhaven River on the east to the Nansemond River on 

 the west. By far the greater part of the land used for the growing 

 of truck crops and strawberries lies north of a line drawn from Prin- 

 cess Anne courthouse to Suffolk, Va., and east of a line drawn thence 

 northward to the James River, near Smithfield. Small areas 

 producing truck crops are also found in James City, York, Warwick, 

 and Elizabeth City Counties, but these lie across the James River and 

 outside the limits of the Norfolk district in its more restricted sense. 



Only a small proportion of the total land area of the counties of 

 eastern Virginia lying south of the James River and Chesapeake Bay 

 is given to truck crop production. It is impossible to state with 

 exactness the actual acreage devoted to this form of agriculture, as 

 the area varies from year to year and certain duplications in cropping 

 prevent the making of a precise estimate of the land thus employed. 



The climatic conditions in the vicinity of Norfolk permit the growing 

 of a succession of crops during the year, and the same land is fre- 

 quently used for the growing of two or more crops within the same 

 year. In consequence the total acreage of vegetables will undoubt- 

 edly exceed by many acres the total area devoted to truck crop pro- 

 duction. The winter areas of spinach and kale are duplications of 

 acreages used for the growing of spring truck crops. Similarly, certain 

 crops are extensively interplanted, as in the case of beans and peas 

 with strawberries, peas with cucumbers, potatoes with newly set beds 

 of strawberries, and other less frequent combinations. (See PL I, 

 figs. 1 and 2.) 



It is probable that some 5,000 acres of duplication should thus be 

 allowed for and that the total land area used for truck crop produc- 

 tion in the Norfolk district annually during recent years is about 

 50,000 acres. 



It is evident, therefore, that only a small part of the area included 

 in the district is actually used for truck crop production. The reasons 

 for this limitation are local conditions of soil texture, drainage, trans- 

 portation facilities, and minor climatic variations. 



