90 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



Timber trees. Red oak, 15 per cent; white oak, 10 per cent; black oak, 8 

 per cent; chestnut oak, 6 per cent; birch, 5 per cent; maple, 10 per cent; linn, 

 5 per cent; gum, 5 per cent; hemlock, 5 per cent; white pine, 3 per cent; 

 cucumber, 10 per cent; other species, 18 per cent. 



Yield. Ijog timber, 8,640 M feet B. M.; small wood, 41,040 cords. 



Demand. The best log timber brings from %\ to $3 per thousand feet on 

 the stump. 



Accessibility. The nearest railroad point is Damascus, 10 miles from the 

 remotest portion of the tract. The present wagon road is very rough and hilly, 

 and travel is in constant danger of being stopped by freshets, as a slight rise 

 renders the gorge above Damascus impassable. 



Five. Fires are not prevalent except on the slope of Pond Mountain and 

 on Chestnut Ridge, where light fires creep through the woods nearly every year. 



Second growth. The stand of saplings varies according to moisture and 

 prevalence of fire. About one-half the land has enough saplings to produce a 

 good stand of timber trees. 



Undergrowth. There is abundant laurel and other brush on north slopes; 

 the ridges and south slopes are but lightly covered with brush. 



RefprodtijCtion. Oak, chestnut, birch, and maple all come up freely on old 

 cuttings. White pine and hemlock would reproduce freely if the earth were 

 made bare to receive the seed. 



Rate of growth. Rapid. 



WatefT power. Limited. Except at the mouth of Valley Greek, where White 

 Top Creek might be dammed, there is only power enough for small sawmills and 

 gristmills. 



Ownership. On Pond Mountain and Chestnut Ridge are considerable areas 

 of woodland held by nonresidents. The greater portion of the valley is held 

 by resident farmers. 



Occupancy. About 40 families are now living in this valley. 



Prices of land. Mountain land brings from $3 to $8 per acre; valley land, 

 from $1.5 to $45. 



WATAUGA RIVER BASIN. 



Topography. ^This basin, tributary to the Holston, lies almost entirely 

 between the Unakas and the Blue Ridge. The main source of the river is on 

 Grandfather Mountain, a prominent peak of the Blue Ridge, while the last 

 mountain gorge is passed near Elizabethton, Tenn., where the river leaves the 

 mountains. The highest points of this system are Holston Mountain, 4,300 feet; 

 Snake Mountain, 5,594 feet; Rich Mountain, 5,369 feet; Grandfather Mountain, 



