DESCRIPTION OF DRAINAGE BASINS. 57 



NEW RIVER BASIN. 



Topography. New River is tributarj' to the Ohio through the Kanawha, and 

 drains the eastern portion of the Appalachian Plateau lying between the Blue 

 Ridge on the southeast and Iron Mountain on the northwest. The sources of the 

 tributaries are at elevations of from 3,000 to 5,000 feet, but below the junction 

 of the North and South forks the river valley has an altitude of only 2,000 to 2,500 

 feet. The topographic features are deep, narrow valleys and ravines, with irregular 

 intervening hills and mountains,, among which are a few isolated peaks having an 

 altitude of 5,000 feet and upward, and occasional narrow flats along the larger 

 streams. Many of the old hill fields have been exhausted by close pasturing and 

 the soil is being rapidly removed by erosion. 



The basin has an area of 711,872 acres, of which 51: per cent is wooded. 



Agriculture. "^hii greater portion of this area has been cleared, although 

 most of it is too steep to be arable. The hills are cleared for grazing, to which 

 they are better adapted than to agriculture, in view of the great erosion and the 

 difficulty of maintaining roads. Excellent crops of hay and grass are the rule 

 on new land, and the custom is to utilize a clearing until it is exhausted and 

 then clear a new field. 



The forest. The forests of large area are limited to the higher altitudes on 

 the isolated peaks between the North and South forks, and on Balsam and Iron 

 mountains, which form the northwestern rim of the highlands. On the south- 

 eastern slope of Balsam Mountain is an almost unbroken forest, approximately 5 

 miles square, but the long, narrow strip of woodland on Iron Mountain is 

 considerably broken by clearings and burns, while the portions of Pond Mountain 

 and White Top draining into New River have on them only remnants of the 

 old forest. 



The forest contains 794,447 M feet B. M. of log timber and 6,251,686 cords 

 of small wood. The proportions of the various species composing the forest are 



as follows: 



Proportions of specks in New River basin. 



Per cent. 

 Oaks '. 45 



Chestnut 20 



White pine 2 



Hemlock 4 



Spruce 1 



Poplar 2 



Ash 2 



Buckej'e 2 



Linn 3 



Black gum 1 



