72 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS, 



Accessibility. Owing to the distance from market and the bad roads, the cost 

 of transportation is usually more than the timber is worth. 



Fire. The woodland is so much broken by clearings that fires are not 

 prevalent. 



Second growth. Variable, according to the treatment the tract has received. 

 On land little culled the stand of saplings is very deficient, while on the clean 

 cuttings about Ore Knob the land is fully occupied by a dense stand of the 

 same species that occupied the land before the cutting. 



Unciergrowth. Laurel and rhododendron are abundant on north slopes, but 

 elsewhere the undergrowth is light, except where the forest has been severely 

 culled; then sprouts, seedlings, and brush become abundant. 



Reproduction. Reproduction is free except where the land has been closely 

 pastured; even on some of the old pastures pine is coming in abundantly. 



Rate of growth. Rapid, except on the poorest ridges and knolls. 



Water power. New River has abundant water powers and may be controlled 

 without great difficulty. The tributaries passing through this tract have only 

 sufficient water for small gristmills and sawmills. 



Ownership. There are few large holdings; nearly all the tract is subdivided 

 into farms of less than 1,000 acres each. 



Occupancy. This is a farming region and is occupied by over 500 families. 



Prices of land. The bottom lands are valued at $30 to $60 per acre, but 

 the rough and hilly lands could be bought for $2 per acre. 



BOONE DISTRICT (wATAUGA COUNTY, N, C). 



Boundaries. On the north and east, the borders of the area shown on Cran- 

 berry topographic sheet; on the south, the crest of the Blue Ridge; on the west, 

 the divide between Watauga and New rivers. 



Area. Total, 243,80 square miles; cleared, 101.50 square miles; wooded, 142.30 

 square miles. 



Surface. Except about 1 per cent of alluvial lands, the surface is hilly to 

 mountainous, varying between elevations of 3,000 feet along the North and South 

 forks of New River to 5,555 feet on Elk Knob, the highest of 11 prominent 

 mountain peaks within this district. The region is deeply cut into sharp ridges 

 and valleys by the numerous creeks. 



Soil. Generally fertile. In the valleys the soil is a red clay loam, very 

 fertile when first cleared, but soon compacting and eroding. On the mountains 

 it is more porous and durable. 



Agricultural value. A large proportion of the cleared lands, perhaps 50 per 

 cent, can not be profitably cultivated, but are pastured and are rapidly eroding. 



