SOIL SURVEY OF THE OCALA AREA, FLORIDA. 
217 
The Norfolk fine sand, like the Norfolk sand, is a superficial 
mantle of sand, most probably of Pleistocene age. This soil over- 
lies the extensive hard-rock phosphate beds of this section of the 
State. 
There is very little agricultural development on this soil, partly 
because it is naturally a thin soil of low productivity. For good 
yields all crops have to be heavily fertilized with complete mixtures 
or barnyard manure. It is held in large tracts by the phosphate 
mining companies and as interest centers in the mining operations 
no effort is put forth on the soil. Large tracts of this land have 
been completely deforested, the wood being used for the drying of 
the phosphate rock. Around mines the country presents a desolate 
appearance. 
On the flatter areas of the type east of Dunnellon and along the 
Ocala & Southwestern Railroad there are some lands in cultivation. 
Large acreages are being put in watermelons, for which this soil is 
well adapted. Velvet beans and cowpeas are also grown, and a 
small yield of corn is obtained. Sweet potatoes do fairly well. 
Vegetables do well on some of the better spots, but no market garden¬ 
ing is done on this soil. With an overhead system of irrigation the 
better areas would be well suited for gardening. Its greatest need 
is the incorporation of organic matter. Velvet beans and cowpeas 
are the best crops to produce-. Corn and melons have to be fertilized, 
the latter requiring heavy applications. 
The principal tree growth on this land is longleaf pine, which 
attains a fair size and a moderate stand. The blackjack oak occurs 
with the pine, and when the latter is cut the former occupies the 
land. There are some areas of open pine woods, especially on the 
better parts of this type, that support a sod of wire grass, which af¬ 
fords good grazing early in the season. The value of the land is 
low—only a few dollars an acre. 
Norfolk fine sand, loamy phase .—While the type as a whole is 
a loose, incoherent sand, there are areas occurring in the depres¬ 
sions, especially in Citrus County, in which the soil is affected by 
wash and is a little more loamy than the average. There are also 
indicated some areas near Dunnellon which, while not in depres¬ 
sions, are a little more loamy, and in the vicinity of Heidtville there 
is a large area having a generally flat surface that is also somewhat 
loamy, the clay not being very far beneath the surface. Two large 
areas of this phase, lying near Elecia and Inverness, in Citrus 
County, were also mapped. 
