SOUTH FORK OF HOLSTON RIVER BASIN (SOUTHERN TRIBUTARIES). 79 



small portion of the arable land is cleared. Holston River bottom is cleared to 

 the foothills of the mountain. This land is well adapted to diversified farming, 

 but is now devoted principally to corn and grazing. 



The forest. Excepting a few small mountain pastures, all the mountain 

 ridges are wooded, and both east and west of Damascus are large areas of 

 unbroken forest, covering both mountain and valley. The north slope of Holston 

 Mountain is also entirely wooded. The forest contains 462,170 M feet B. M. of 

 log timber and 2,793,080 cords of small wood. 



The forest of this drainage area varies naturally with the soil, altitude, and 

 exposure, and has also been seriously modified by fires. The northern slopes of 

 Holston and Iron mountains are lightly timbered with oak, black pine, chestnut, 

 and gum, with some hemlock and white pine in ravines, nearly all culled. The 

 southern slopes of the same mountains, and especially the lower portions, are 

 better wooded, except where cleared or deadened for grazing, and have some 

 heavy stands of hemlock and white pine, among which hard woods are freely 

 distributed. 



The steep slopes west of Damascus and east of Como Gap are in a very 

 inferior forest condition, owing largely to the long-continued prevalence of fires, 

 which have not only prevented a vigorous growth, but have even driven out 

 the most valuable species. 



Over the entire area the proportions of species are as follows: 



Proportions of species in South Fork of Holston River basin. 



Per cent. 

 Oaks 40 



Hemlock 7 



Aeh 1 



Black gum 2 



Maple 4 



Shortleaf pine 1 



Chestnut 10 



Spruce 1 



Buckeye 1 



Beech 1 



Hickory 3 



White pine 12 



Poplar 1 



Linn 2 



Birch 2 



Black pine 2 



Other species 10 



The trees of the ridges and higher north slopes are short and crooked, and, 

 as a rule, the land is very imperfectly stocked and also very brushy. The forest 



