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



altitude ranging from 10 to 30 feet above tide level. The surface 

 is very flat and all of the southwestern part of the section is occupied 

 by the Dismal Swamp. The eastern and northern parts lying along 

 the Nansemond River, James River, Elizabeth River and its branches, 

 the Chesapeake Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean, occur at altitudes 

 from tide level up to 25 or 30 feet. Although the surface is flat, the 

 deep tidal indentations constitute natural drainage ways and a 

 great part of the upland surface is fairly well drained under natural 

 conditions. 



It is a rather marked feature of the general surface of the section 

 that the highest elevations of the upland occur along the northern 

 border, frequently adjacent to the larger estuaries, and that the 

 slight slope of the surface is toward the south and southeast. 



Thus the outer rim of the section has the best natural drainage 

 both because of its proximity to the larger estuaries and the most 

 pronounced drainage ways and because of slightly greater eleva- 

 tion above tide level than the lands more remote from tide water. 

 This fact undoubtedly accounts to some degree for the greater devel- 

 opment of trucking along tidewater than in interior localities. 



The district is drained almost exclusively through the deeply 

 indented and numerous tidal estuaries which penetrate the region 

 to a depth of 5 to 10 miles from the actual coast line. These estua- 

 ries are usually bordered by steep slopes, and the upland rises to 

 elevations of 10 to 15 feet almost directly from water level. The 

 drainage of the level to slightly sloping uplands finds its way to the 

 major streams through shallow and frequently poorly defined chan- 

 nels. The interstream areas are so flat that drainage is rather 

 poorly established in areas more remote from the tidal channels. 



Since drainage strongly influences the distribution of cropping, 

 this fact is of considerable importance in determining the localization 

 of crop production, especially of truck crops. Poorly drained lands 

 remain in forest. Those of moderate natural drainage are used for 

 the growing of staple farm crops. Only the best drained and warmest 

 lands are utilized for the production of truck crops. In some cases 

 tile underdrainage and in many cases open ditches are employed 

 to improve local drainage conditions on the truck farms. Yet the 

 preferred lands for truck-crop production are those which possess 

 the best natural drainage. 



SOILS. 



All of the soils of the Norfolk district are derived from uncon- 

 solidated materials of the Coastal Plain region, ranging in texture 

 from coarse gravelly sandy deposits or dune sand on the one hand to 

 finer textured loams and silt loams on the other. Soils which con- 

 sist chiefly of finely divided mineral matter cover all of the marginal 

 areas, but soils with which are mingled varying amounts of dead 



