6 BtJLLETiN 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 
sUght 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 
