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



This rapid succession of crops, the interplanting of such crops as 

 peas and beans with strawberries and cucumbers, and the year- 

 round utilization of the land are characteristic features of the Church- 

 land area and of the general district. 



The completion of land drainage through the use of tile is probably 

 more general in the immediate vicinity of Churchland than in other 

 parts of the Norfolk district, but is not confined to that locality. 



Another feature of the Churchland area is the common use of 

 natural forest areas or of planted windbreaks to protect the winter 

 and early spring crops from cold winds. The tilled areas are very 

 commonly protected in this manner and in some cases individual 

 fields of small area are surrounded by hedges. Such a windbreak 

 is shown in Plate VII, figure 2. 



In this area, in which the trucking industry of the district had its 

 inception, every device for promoting the early and uninterrupted 

 growth of crops is employed. Not only are the well-drained, some- 

 what sandy soils utilized as in other districts, but soils not naturally 

 so well suited to trucking have been improved by drainage until they 

 are available for the growing of the more important crops, such as 

 cabbage and potatoes, and the climatic conditions above the soil 

 have been improved by windbreaks. 



The Diamond Springs Area. 



During the fall of 1915 and the spring of 1916, a soil and crop map 

 of an area of approximately 1,909 acres was made in the vicinity of 

 Diamond Springs, Va. The territory included in this survey lies 

 along the Cape Henry Division of the Norfolk Southern Railroad, 

 in the northwestern part of Princess Anne County and about 1\ miles 

 northeast of Norfolk. The southern boundary of the area is an 

 arbitrary line, but the greater part of the eastern, northern, and 

 northwestern boundaries is formed by the waters of Lakes Lawson 

 and Smith and by Little Creek. 



The surface of the area mapped falls into two rather distinct 

 topographic divisions. The northern two-fifths of the area consists 

 of a low plain whose maximum elevation of about 15 feet above 

 tide level is attained at its southern boundary. It slopes very gently 

 to the north, descending rather sharply to the water boundaries of 

 the area. It consists of a series of low peninsulas, separated by 

 narrow arms of the artificial bodies of water which surround the area 

 on this side. The general surface is nearly level, although low ridges 

 not more than 5 feet higher than the general surface may be detected. 

 The surface of the plain ranges from about 8 feet to 15 feet above 

 tide-water level. There are few stream channels within this plain 

 except those which indent its margin. 



