DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF THE SOILS OF VIRGINIA. 
11 
for extra-early asparagus, Irish potatoes, peas, beans, tomatoes, egg 
plant, melons, cantaloupes, and small fruits. The fine sand is better 
adapted to these crops, giving larger yields, but the crops mature from 
ten days to two weeks later. This is the main truck soil of the Nor- 
folk district. The sandy loam and the fine sandy loam are best 
adapted to sweet and Irish potatoes, early sweet corn, melons, the 
heavier truck crops, like kale, spinach, and cabbage, and to peanuts. 
The fine sandy loam gives better yields than the sandy loam. The 
silt loam, which occurs to a small extent, is the only soil of the Nor- 
folk series found in the State which is well adapted to general farm 
crops, such as corn, wheat, and oats. The remaining types, coarse 
sandy loam, gravelly loam, and clay loam, are of comparatively rare 
occurrence and have no particular value. 
Portsmouth series. — The soils are dark gray to black and are high 
in organic matter. The subsoils are light gray to mottled gray 
and yellow, and the heavier mem- 
bers are always plastic, though 
usually carrying a noticeable per- 
centage of sand. These soils are 
most extensively developed in the 
flatwoods or the low seaward por- 
tion of the Atlantic Coastal Plains 
and that portion of the Gulf 
Coastal Plains lying east of the 
Mississippi River. They are poorly 
drained and require ditching before 
they can be used for agriculture. 
Scattered areas are frequently 
found in the poorly drained de- 
pressions of the higher Coastal 
Plains country. When drained these soils are variously adapted to 
corn, strawberries, and truck crops, such as cabbage, onions, and 
celery. Applications of lime are usually decidedly beneficial. 
The silt loam is one of the extensive and important types in the 
series. It is devoted principally to general farming, including corn, 
hay, and oats. It is also well suited to the production of cabbage, kale, 
collards, and certain varieties of strawberries. The sandy loam and 
fine sandy loam are the important truck soils of the series and are 
well adapted to late and heavy truck crops, especially cabbage, kale, 
spinach, celery, onions, lettuce, and strawberries. Larger yields are 
secured from these soils than from the corresponding types of the 
Norfolk series. The fine sandy loam is probably the best strawberry 
soil of the Coastal Plains. The clay loam occupies only small spots. 
It is a splendid soil for corn, oats, and grasses, and good pasture can 
Fig. 5.- 
Relative area of Coastal Plains 
soils. 
