88 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



Yield. hog timber, 39,520 M feet B. M.; small wood, 307,200 cords. 



Demand. The best of the log timber sells for $2 to $4 per thousand feet 

 on the stump, according to accessibility. 



Accessibility. The valley is supplied with numerous poor wagon roads which 

 surround some of the timber lands in the foothills, but most of the remaining 

 timber is on the steep, brushy, rocky mountain sides and rather difficult of 

 access. The nearest railroad point is at Damascus, requiring a haul of 12 to 15 

 miles, but a railroad is being built to Mountain City which will reduce the 

 distance to 10 miles. 



JFire. The ridges have been repeatedly and, in many cases, severely burned. 

 Nearly all of the woodland is subject to fire, and the stand of timber and young 

 growth is in very inferior condition on that account. 



Second growth. On the foothills protected by clearings are some excellent 

 stands of saplings, but as a rule the young growth is very deficient because of 

 the fires. 



Undergrowth. Laurel thickets abound, especially in the ravines and other 

 moist places. The ridge lands are also brushy, but on them the brush is seldom 

 dense enough to greatly obstruct reproduction. 



Reproduction. Reproduction is naturally free, except where fires prevail. 

 White pine and hemlock seedlings are abundant on the foothills, while oaks and 

 chestnut come in freely on the higher lands. 



Hate of growth. Medium. 



Water power. The fall of the stream is rapid, but the flow is inconstant. 

 There is, therefore, no favorable site for a large mill above Damascus. 



Occupancy. Nearly 200 families are living on this tract. 



Prices of land. Mountain lands are assessed at $2 per acre; farm lands, from 

 $6 to $50 per acre. 



WHITE TOP GREEK DISTRICT (WASHINGTON AND SMYTH COUNTIES, VA.). 



Boundaries. The crest of Iron Mountain forms the northern boundary and 

 the divide between this basin and that of New River forms the eastern boundary. 

 This basin is separated from the Laurel Creek basin by a low divide running 

 westward from Pond Mountain. 



Surface. The bottom lands are very much interrupted and altogether amount 

 to only about 1 square mile, while the foothills are short and steep and the 

 mountain sides are often precipitous. 



Area. Total, 42.50 square miles; cleared, 4.75 square miles; wooded, 37.75 

 square miles. 



