TIMBER EESOURCES OF ORAXGE COUNTY, K C* 



BY J. S. HOLMES 



Orange, with an area of 247,040 acres, is one of the middle 

 eastern Piedmont counties. It lies between Durham on the east 

 and Alamance on the west, both of which were originally part of 

 this county. 



Lying on the eastern edge of the granite formation and on the 

 western border of the old '^ Triassic Sea," the topography of 

 Orange is rougher and more broken than most of the other 

 counties in this part of the State. Several low rocky ridges 

 run part way across the county in an easterly and westerly direc- 

 tion, and close to Hillsboro are some hills, which rise several 

 hundred feet above the town. The northeastern part of the 

 county is drained principally by Eno and Little rivers, which 

 uniting in Durham County with Flat River, form the head of 

 the Neuse. The western part is drained by several creeks 

 which flow southwesterly into Haw River, which when aug- 

 mented by the waters of New Hope Creek, which drains the 

 southeasterly part of the county, becomes the Cape Fear River. 

 The streams are too small to form water powers of any size, 

 though two or three small saw and gris't mills are run by water 

 power. 



The soil varies from sandy and gravelly to a stiff red clay. 

 An area of sandy loam varying in width from two to five miles 

 crosses the northern part of the county. On this land tobacco 

 is being grown in increasing quantities. A small area of sandy 

 land also occurs near the southwestern corner of the county. 

 Except along the southeastern border, where much of the soil 

 is a yellowish gravelly clay, most of the rest of the county has 

 a heavy red clay soil. Cotton and the cereals are the chief crops. 



Approximately 40 per cent of the land area is now cleared. 

 Of this cleared land nearly one-fifth is neglected and unused, 

 and is gradually reverting to forest growth. There are no large 

 timber tracts, and only seven per cent of the land is held by 

 parties who own over 500 acres. An average assessed value for 



* Reprinted from Press Bulletin No. 116 of the N. C. Geol. and Econ. Survey. 



