SOIL SURVEY OF THE OCALA AREA, FLORIDA. 215 
Velvet beans grow well upon it and are an important crop. Cowpeas 
are also grown, being cut for hay. Crabgrass coming into the corn 
late in the season is usually cut for hay. Sweet potatoes are grown 
in small patches to supply the family needs. Watermelons constitute 
the money crop on this soil and large acreages are being devoted to 
it, from which considerable revenue is derived. Because of the wilt 
disease, however, the land can not be replanted to watermelons for 
a number of years. Cantaloupes are grown on some of the better 
areas, and with the advent of new settlers the production of other 
truck crops, particularly tomatoes, is being attempted. The better 
parts of the type, when the depth to the clay or water is not too 
great, are well suited to vegetable growing; but the application of 
organic manures in liberal quantity, as well as complete commercial 
fertilizer mixtures, are necessary on the best of this land. By plow¬ 
ing under green manuring crops, especially the legumes, this soil 
can be greatly improved. Cowpeas are useful for this purpose. The 
velvet bean makes a heavy growth, shades the ground, and is an ex¬ 
cellent soil improver, especially when plowed in. A source of in¬ 
come is the growing of velvet beans for seed. The growing of this 
crop is general on the type. 
Areas of the Norfolk sand in small tracts are sold for $10 to 
$25 an acre, but the greater part of the type is held at much lower 
prices. 
NORFOLK FINE SAND. 
The Norfolk fine sand is the most extensive soil in the area. It 
consists of a mantle of fine sand more than 3 feet deep. Slight 
variations occur in the type, but the surface 6 inches usually consists 
of a gray to yellowish-gray, loose fine sand. The grayish color is 
caused by the small organic-matter content, which in places is suffi¬ 
cient to make it quite dark, especially in the lower situations. Be¬ 
sides affecting the color above, this organic matter has a binding 
effect, making the soil, though loose, somewhat coherent. The soil 
below the surface 6 inches is of similar texture, but, lacking organic 
matter, it is usually a little more loose and incoherent, especially in 
the lower depths. The prevailing color of the soil is gray, yellowish 
gray, or pale yellow, but there are variations, in some places to a 
decided yellow or ocherous yellow, in others to a brownish or 
orange-yellow color, and occasionally even to a reddish color. 
The type is free of stone as a rule, but occasionally around sinks 
there may be found outcrops of flinty ledges of the limestone forma- 
