620 YEARBOOK OF AGRICULTURE 1957 banks of North Carolina at Cape Hat- teras. The average date of the first kill- ing frost is October 20 in parts of New Middle Atlantic Jersey, northern Delaware, and Mary- land, and November 30 along the southeastern coast of North Carolina. Coastal Plain The average dates of the last killing frost in spring are March 5 in North William J. Hanna and S. S. Obenshain Carolina, and April 25 in central New Jersey and on Long Island. The highest annual precipitation in The Middle Atlantic Coastal the region is about 56 inches in the Plain embraces parts of New vicinity of Beaufort, N. C. The lowest is about 36 inches in Calvert and St. York, New Jersey, Delaware, Mary's Counties in southern Maryland. Maryland, Virginia, and North April to September precipitation ranges from 20 inches in southern New Jersey Carolina. It begins as a narrow and southeastern Maryland to 34 inches strip at Long Island and grad- near Beaufort. Much of the summer rain comes in afternoon thunderstorms. ually widens to nearly 200 The region lies in the path of occa- miles in North CaroHna. sional hurricanes, which move up the coast from the Caribbean area in the Some of the land has been farmed for autumn. The hurricanes usually are more than 200 years. Almost all of the accompanied by heavy rain and strong present county boundary lines were winds, w^hich may be destructive. established before 1750. Because of the proximity to the ocean The region has 6 million inhabitants, and numerous bays, the relative humid- and in large cities near it are another ity is high in many coastal sections. 14 million persons. The topography is level to hilly. The Agriculture is secondary to industry hills are mostly in the inner Coastal in the northern part. A more serious Plain near the streams. The elevation reduction in agricultural areas was ranges from sea level along the many made by residential construction than tidal streams and bays to a little more by industry during the early 1950's. than 300 feet in southern Maryland. Because of the high population den- The higher elevations along the in- sity and location along the Atlantic land boundary have well-developed coast, much of the land is utilized as drainageways. North of the James recreational areas, which mostly are River and the mouth of the Chesa- along the sandy coastal beaches and peake Bay, the region is a series of rela- have little agricultural value, although tively narrow peninsulas lying between some farmland is being converted to rather deeply cut stream beds. Drain- parks and golf courses. age has been established to both sides The average January temperature of the peninsulas. varies between 48^ F. in southern North Where the Coastal Plain is wider in Carolina and 30° on Long Island in New Jersey, southern Virginia, and New York. The average July tempera- North Carolina, the seaward portions ture has a somewhat narrower range— on the lower terraces and the upland from 80° in North Carolina to 72° in flats on the intermediate terraces do New York. not have well-defined drainageways The average number of days without and therefore have extensive swampy killing frost is about 180 on Long Is- areas, notably the Dismal Swamp along land and in central New Jersey. There the Virginia-North Carolina border are 290 frost-free days on the outer and the Mattamuskeet area in North P;ilDDLE ATLANTIC COASTAL PLAIN 621 urban and industrial encroachment, especially in Nassau County, N. Y.; Camden County, N. J.; Baltimore County, Md.; and Norfolk County, Va. Production of vegetables for process- ing is an important enterprise in most of the northern part. A large part of the acreage of well-drained soils is de- voted to vegetable production, and somewhat more than half of the prod- uce goes to processing plants. The re- Carolina. Scattered swampy upland mainder is sold on the fresh market. flats, or "pocosins," also exist in Vir- Vegetable crops, including potatoes, ginia, the Carolina Bays in North are given first priority on best soils in Carolina, and swamps in the New Jer- New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and sey "Pine Barrens." Large areas of tidal parts of Virginia. marsh and coastal beach occur along Poultry is the main farm enterprise the coastline of the bays and the sea, in the area north of Chesapeake Bay. particularly in New Jersey, Virginia, Chickens are grown on almost all and North Carolina. farms of the region, but large-scale Nearness to cities and soil type were production is concentrated in two gen- among the factors that determined eral areas—Monmouth, Ocean, At- farming systems. Modern transporta- lantic, and Cumberland Counties in tion and competition from distant areas New Jersey, and the central part of reduced the importance of nearness to Delaware and the Eastern Shore of large cities, but much of the dairying Maryland and Virginia. Egg produc- and vegetable farming are still located tion is foremost in New Jersey. around them. Poultry farms are mostly on the very Other factors that influence the farm- sandy soils. Only a small fraction of ing systems and crops are labor costs, the feed is produced on the farm. Cul- particularly near the larger cities, and tivated land, if any, is used for poultry Government controls, including price ranges or for vegetable crops. In the supports and acreage control. For ex- Delaware-Maryland-Virginia peninsu- ample, a large acreage formerly used la, where broiler production is the for tobacco, cotton, and peanuts in chief poultry enterprise, a much larger North Carolina and Virginia was shifted proportion of the feed is grown in the in the early 1950's to corn and soybeans. vicinity, but even there more than half The most common crops are corn of the grains fed to poultry come from and small grains, but many vegetables outside those States. and potatoes also are grown in much A smaller area is devoted to the of the region. In the North Carolina duckling industry of Suffolk County, Coastal Plain, cash grain, tobacco, pea- N. Y. Almost all the feed is shipped in. nuts, and cotton are the characteristic Dairying is second only to poultry types of farms. The leading crops in the production as a farm enterprise in the Coastal Plain of Virginia are cash grain, Atlantic Coastal Plain north of Chesa- peanuts, cotton, and vegetables. Poul- peake Bay. Much of the dairying is try, dairy, and vegetable farms are the concentrated on the soils that are less characteristic types in the northern part. well drained. Such areas include Bur- Vegetables to be marketed fresh have lington and Salem Counties in New long been grown on the sandy soils of Jersey, northern Delaware, and the the Coastal Plain near New York, Phil- northern part of the Eastern Shore of adelphia, Wilmington, Baltimore, and Maryland. Washington. Much of the market gar- Two major crops are white potatoes ^ den areas have been lost since 1940 to and sweetpotatoes. The value of both 622 YEARBOOK OF AGRICULTURE 1957 crops in 1949 was about the same as grains are grown in support of live- for ail vegetables. White potatoes are stock. Corn and soybeans grown for grown throughout the region. Sweet- cash sale of grain occupy a large acre- potatoes are grown on the sandier soils age of less well-drained soils in North and in areas that have a growing sea- Carolina and Virginia. In the flat- son of 190 to 200 days. woods area of northeastern North Corn is grown on more acres in the Carolina and southeastern Virginia region than any other crop. In the these are the major crops in value as part north of Virginia, corn and small well as in acreage. Even in the areas MIDDLE ATLANTIC COASTAL PLAIN 623 where cotton, peanuts, and tobacco THE COASTAL PLAIN slopes gently sea- are of greater cash value, corn occu- ward, mostly in a series of more or less pies more acres than any other crops. parallel terraces. The terraces extend In the Vh'ginia Coastal Plain north inland along the bays and streams. At of the peanut area, small grains, mostly least seven terrace levels have been dis- wheat, are grown in rotation with corn tinguished along the Coastal Plain; and soybeans. Hogs, the only livestock they are more easily recognized in the of any importance in the southern part southern part of the region. of the region, are concentrated in the The highly variable material of the peanut belt, where they are used to Coastal Plain was transported from glean the nuts not removed in normal the higher elevation of the Atlantic harvesting operations. slope and deposited in layers or uncon- Tobacco is the principal crop in solidated beds, which vary in texture southern Maryland and the central from fine-grained silts and clays to Coastal Plain of North Carolina. Be- coarse sands and gravel. The deposits cause of its high acre value, tobacco is are thought to be a mixture of marine, given first priority for well-drained alluvial, and glaciofluvial materials. soils best suited for its production. Some disturbance of the surface layers Cotton is grown only in the southern has been caused by local wind action sections and is of major importance in the northern portion. only in North Carolina, where it occu- The zonal soils include Gray-Brown pies about 15 percent of the cropland Podzolic and Red-Yellow Podzolic of the central and upper Coastal Plain. soils. They are well drained and on Peanuts are grown in the southern part the higher elevations, but they occupy of this area.