SOILS OF EASTERN VIRGINIA. 43 



THE EASTERN SHORE TRUCKING DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA. 



LOCATION. 



The two counties of Accomac and Northampton in Virginia, 

 located between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, are com- 

 monly designated as the Eastern Shore of Virginia. This section 

 comprises a total land area of 682 square miles or 436,480 acres. It is 

 bounded on the north and northwest by Worcester and Somerset 

 Counties, Md., on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the west by 

 Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. 



The production of truck crops, and of forage and general farm 

 crops grown in conjunction Math such crops, constitutes the chief 

 agricultural industry of these counties. The magnitude of the 

 trucking industry is shown by the statistics of truck-crop production 

 for the section. The following estimate of shipments of various 

 truck crops is furnished by the Eastern Shore of Virginia Produce 

 Exchange. It is probable that total shipments exceed even these 

 totals, since some independent marketing of produce occurs. 



Table IX. — Production of truck crops in Accomac and Northampton Counties, Va., 



1911 to 1916, inclusive. 1 



Year. 



Irish 

 potatoes. 



Sweet 

 potatoes. 



Onions. 



Straw- 

 berries. 



Cabbage. 



1911 



Bushels. 

 2, 403, 838 

 4, 598, 170 

 7,649,510 

 7, 083, 664 

 7, 839, 492 

 7, 719, 249 



Bushels. 

 1, 845, 990 

 2, 874, 231 

 3, 525, 368 

 2,281,623 

 2, 367, 040 

 3, 736, 983 



Hampers* 

 44,733 

 89, 828 

 97, 252 

 65, 095 

 201, 488 

 69, 156 



Crates* 

 30, 616 

 81, 508 

 49, 356 

 45, 778 

 58, 991 

 48,610 



Crates.* 

 48,109 



1912 



48, 727 



1913 



84, 188 



1914 



110, 395 



1915....- 



88,666 



1916 



90, 156 







i From Soil Survey of Accomac and Northampton Counties, Va., E. H. Stevens, Field Operations, 

 Bureau of Soils, 1917. 



2 Hamper = five-eighths bushels. 



3 Strawberry crate = 32 quarts. 



4 Cabbage crate = two-thirds barrel, or 2 bushels. Some cabbage is also shipped in barrels. 



Assuming moderate yields per acre for each of these crops, it is 

 probable that the two counties plant annually about 65,000 to 

 70,000 acres to potatoes, 20,000 to 25,000 acres to sweet potatoes, 

 around 1,000 acres to strawberries, and about 500 acres each to 

 onions and cabbage. These estimates probably are somewhat below 

 rather than above the total plantings. Small areas of beans, canta- 

 loupes, and watermelons are also grown. 



The total area of improved land in farms shown for the two counties 

 by the census of 1910 is 128,775 acres. The area in truck crops, as 

 estimated, ranges from 87,000 to 97,000 acres, or somewhere between 

 67 and 75 per cent of the total improved land. Few trucking areas 

 show such a high percentage of truck-crop occupation as this, and 

 few of them exceed the Eastern Shore in total area given to the 

 growing of truck crops. 



