86 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



Water power. There are sites for numerous small mills, but the streams are 

 inconstant and the water is difficult to govern. There are some excellent powers, 

 however, along the South Fork of Holston River. 



Occupancy. About 300 families are now living on this tract, most of them 

 within 2 miles of the river. 



Prices of land. The mountain ridges are usually valued at 50 cents per 

 acre, timber coves are $2 to $5 per acre, while farm lands range from $25 to 

 $30 per acre. 



SHADY VALLEY DISTRICT (WASHINGTON COUNTY, VA., AND JOHNSON COUNTY, TENN.). 



Boundaries. The crest of Holston Mountain on the northwest and the crest 

 of Iron Mountain on the southeast, including the entiris drainage basin of Beaver 

 Dam Creek. 



Area. ^Total, 33 square miles; cleared, 5 square miles; wooded, 28 square 

 miles. 



Surface. About 5 square miles in the west-central portion of the valle}^ are 

 undulating to hilly; the remainder is mountainous. 



Soil. Where the slopes are gentle the land is remarkably fertile; the soil is 

 a clayey loam derived partly from limestone and partly from gneiss and schists. 

 The soil on the mountain slopes is lighter and has very little limestone in its 

 composition. 



Agricultural value. The lower portion of the valley west of Crandall is 

 remarkably fertile and yields excellent crops of corn, wheat, rye, oats, grass, and 

 vegetables. About 10 per cent of this area is adapted to agriculture. 



Timher trees. White pine, 20 per cent; hemlock, 15 per cent; oaks, 20 per 

 cent; chestnut, 15 per cent; other species, 30 per cent. 



Yield. ho^ timber, 94,720 M feet B. M.; small wood, 390,400 cords. 



Demand. The white pine and hemlock log timber is being cut. The stump- 

 age value depends largely upon the cost of transportation. 



Accessibility. A railroad has been built from Abingdon, Va., entirely through 

 this valley. The distance to the railroad nowhere exceeds 4 miles. Logging is 

 not difficult west of Crandall, but east of that place the slopes are very brush}*^ 

 and very steep. 



Fire. Only the ridges have been severely burned, and on them little of the 

 logging timber has been killed; but the fires have been sufficiently severe and 

 frequent to prevent the best growth of timber. 



Second growth. Good stands of saplings are found here and there, especially 

 on the lower mountain slopes. In most places there are enough saplings to furnish 

 a good stand of timber trees if the old trees were cut away. 



