SOILS OF EASTERN VIRGINIA. 
55 
Table XII. — Proportion of the total area and of the area of each soil type occupied by 
various crops and groups of crops, Onley, Va., September, 1916 — Continued. 
Crop and group of crops. 
Elkton sandv 
loam. 
Elkton loam. 
Portsmouth sandy 
loam. 
Acres. 
Per cent. 
Acres. 
Per cent. 
Acres. 
Per cent. 
General farm crops 
73.3 
1.6 
36.2 
21.3 
14.0 
.2 
74.4 
18.0 
37.2 
19.2 
320.4 
276.0 
43.0 
15.7 
.3 
7.7 
4.7 
3.0 
2.2 
10.8 
2.0 
.6 
1.4 
5.4 
Hay and pasture 
1.6 
Corn. . 
2.2 
10.8 
3.8 
Cow^jeas 
Truck crops 
15.9 
3.8 
8.0 
4.1 
68.4 
59.0 
9.1 
8.8 
1.0 
6.0 
1.8 
9.4 
6.4 
43.1 
4.9 
29.4 
8.8 
46.1 
31.4 
.6 
1.6 
Potatoes.. . 
Strawberries 
.'6' 
3i.8 
34.8 
1.6 
93.0 
Forest 
93.0 
Gardens and trrounds 
3.0 
14.7 
Orchard 
1.4 
.3 
Grand total. .. . . . 
46S. 1 
20.4 
37.4 
SOIL AND CROP ACREAGES FOR JULY. 
It will be noted from the tables that the absolute acreage of each 
crop or other form of land occupation is given for the entire area and 
for each soil type in detail. There is also shown the relative extent 
of occupation in each case in the form of percentages of the entire 
area or of the particular soil type. The percentage figures for the 
entire area establish a basis for comparison for all soils of the locality. 
It is thus possible to study any departures from the normal practice 
and to compare the uses of any particular soil for the growing of in- 
dividual crops or groups of crops. 
The July crop map shows a total area of 783.2 acres given to truck 
crops, or 44.1 per cent of the entire area. Almost an exactly equal 
area, 788.8 acres, or 44.3 per cent, is occupied by forest and home- 
steads or is not cropped. The remainder, 205.4 acres, or only 11.6 
per cent of the area, is used for the growing of forage crops or for pas- 
ture. The most extensive single form of land occupation is that of 
forest, which covers 655.4 acres, or 36.8 per cent of the area mapped. 
The greater part of this forest land consists of the Elkton sandy loam 
and Portsmouth sandy loam, the latter type being forested to 93.1 
per cent of its extent. The Sassafras sandy loam has only 23.3 per 
cent of its area in forest. Excluding the Elkton loam, a total area 
of 20.4 acres, the other types are relatively cleared and occupied in a 
degree closely comparable with their natural drainage conditions. 
The July table shows the relative importance of the different crops 
grown. The area in Irish potatoes, amounting to 410 acres, con- 
stitutes 23.1 per cent of the total area and 41.5 per cent of the area 
in annual crops. Sweet potatoes occupy 287.6 acres or 16.2 per cent 
of the surveyed area, or 29.1 per cent of the cropped area. Corn, 
