NEW JRIVEE BASIN. 75 



Agricultural value. About 2,000 acres are well adapted to mixed farming. 



Timber trees. Chestnut, 20 per cent; chestnut oak, 8 per cent; white oak, 

 10 per cent; red oak, 6 per cent; black oak, 5 per cent; cucumber, 2 per cent; 

 gum, 3 per cent; birch, 3 per cent; maple, 5 per cent; hemlock, 3 per cent; 

 linn, 4 per cent; white pine, 1 per cent; other species, 30 per cent. 



Yield. hog timber, 7,520 M feet B. M.; small wood, 107,000 cords. 



Demand. The best of the timber brings from |1 to ^3 per thousand feet on 

 the stump, according to accessibility. 



Accessibility. The longest haul is about 12 miles, by fair wagon road, to 

 Crockett station on the Norfolk and Western Railway. The slopes are less 

 steep and the brush less abundant than usual. 



Fl7'e. On the ridges fires have been frequent and severe; about 1,600 acres 

 have been severely burned, and light fires have overrun most of the remainder. 



Second growth. Along the clearings, where somewhat protected from fire, 

 there are usually good stands of saplings. Large areas have been cut for 

 charcoal which was used in the Speedwell furnace. These areas are now, as a 

 rule, well stocked with saplings. On the ridges saplings are deficient because of 

 the fires. 



Undergrowth. There are some laurel thickets along the streams, but in 

 general the tract is not brushy. 



Reproduction. Free, except for fires. 



Rate of gro^nth. Medium. 



Water power. Near Speedwell there are several good sites for mills using a 

 moderate amount of power. 



Ownership. \]t^wqww. 



Occupancy. There are about 18 families living on this tract besides those 

 in the village of Speedwell. 



Prices of land. Farm lands are worth from f30 to $50 per acre; mountain 

 lands, from 50 cents to $2. 



KINSER CREEK DISTRICT (SMYTH AND WYTHE COUNTIES, VA.), 



Boundaries On the east, the Dry Branch divide on the south; the summit 

 of Iron Mountain; on the west and north, the divide between Horns Branch and 

 Cripple Creek. 



Area. Total, 18.25 square miles; cleared, 2.50 square miles; wooded, 15.75 

 square miles. 



Surface. About 2 square miles of the lower portion of the basin are undulating 

 to rolling. The remainder is hilly or mountainous. 



