100 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



i 



Agricultural value. There are many productive farms along the bottom 

 lands, but the foothills are liable to erosion, and most of the clearings on them 

 are worn out and occupied by broom grass and more or less furrowed by gullies. 



Timber trees. Oaks, 35 per cent; chestnut, 20 per cent; pines, 8 per cent; 

 hemlock, 5 per cent; other species, 32 per cent. 



Yield. Ijog timber, 81,920 M feet B. M.; small wood, 537,600 cords. 



Demand. From^ $1 to $5 per thousand feet is paid for the best remaining 

 log timber on the stump. Most of the tract has been culled of cherry, linn, 

 poplar, and ash. 



Accessibility. The remaining forest is rather difficult of access, being limited 

 to the steeper slopes and higher altitudes. A branch of the Virginia and 

 Southwestern Railway extends about 8 miles above the mouth of Stony Creek. 



Fire. Fires have been frequent and about one-half the tract has been burned 

 over every j'^ear. 



Second growth. Along the foothills, where protected from fire by the clearings, 

 saplings are abundant, but higher on the mountain sides vigorous growth is 

 prevented by the frequent fires and the remaining old trees. 



Undergrowth. In general the tract is brushy, but the brush on the ridges is 

 short. The hollows are lined with dense thickets of laurel. 



Reproduction. Free, except for fires; even where brushy seedlings start 

 readily. 



Rate of growth. Rapid, except on the ridges and in the higher altitudes. 



Water power. Stony Creek has a rapid descent and is a stream of good 

 average size, but it is very inconstant. 



Occupancy. About 250 families are now living on this tract. 



Prices of land. The best farm lands are assessed at $50 per acre; others 

 as low as $5. Mountain lands can be bought for $1 to $3 per acre. 



LITTLE DOE RIVER BASIN (jOHNSON COUNTY, TENN.). 



Area. Total, 40 square miles; cleared, 12 square miles; wooded, 28 square 

 miles. 



Surface. There is a narrow strip of bottom land along the river and the 

 larger tributaries. The foothills are rolling and hilly and the mountain slopes 

 bordering the valley are short and steep, often rocky and precipitous. 



Soil. Generally light and porous, but some deep, dark loam is found in the 

 coves and on the bottoms. 



Agricultural value. There are some excellent farms near the head of the 

 stream and also north of the gap, from 2 to 6 miles above its mouth, but in 

 general the land is hardly worth cultivating. The steeper slopes lose their humus 



