112 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



ELIZABETHTON DISTRICT (CARTER AND UNICOI COUNTIES, TENN.). 



Boundaries. On the north, a line from the north end of Buffalo Mountain 

 to the southwest end of Holston Mountain; on the east, the Virginia and South- 

 western Railway; on the south, the foot of Iron, Gap Creek^ and Little mountains; 

 and on the west, the eastern foot of Buffalo Mountain. 



Area. Total, 50 square miles; cleared, 38.25 square miles; wooded, 11.75 

 square miles. 



Surface. Undulating to hillj. 



Soil. Red clay, excepting some alluvium along rivers and some porous loam 

 on the ridges. 



Agricultural value. About 25 square miles are well adapted to mixed farming. 



Timber trees. Oaks, 10 per cent; chestnut, 20 per cent; maple, birch, and 

 beech, 10 per cent; other species, 30 per cent. 



Yield. \^Q>g timber, 11,810 M feet B. M.; small wood, 111,200 cords. 



Demand. Markets at Elizabethton and Johnson City offer $8 to %\<) per 

 thousand feet for logs at the mill. 



Accessibility. Wagon roads are numerous. Two railroads cross the tract. 



Fire. Well protected by clearings. 



Second growth. Saplings are abundant, but oaks and chestnut prevail over 

 other species. 



Undergrowth. Light. 



Rate of growth. Rapid. 



Ownership. Resident farmers. 



Occupancy. Outside of the town of Elizabethton there are about 250 families. 



Prices of land. From $5 to $60 per acre. 



NOLICHUCKY RIVER BASIN. 



Topography. A large portion of this basin lies within the mountain region. 

 Its three principal tributajries, North Toe, South Toe, and Caney rivers, as well 

 as several creeks of large size, are entirel}^ between the two main ridges. Mount 

 Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Rocky Mountains, and Roan Mountain are 

 both on the border of this basin. In the central part is a large portion of hilly 

 agricultural land, and along creeks are many narrow strips of flat alluvial bottom. 

 In cutting through the Unaka Mountains, however, the streams have worn 

 long, deep gorges through the Unicoi, and the narrow tributary valleys of this 

 portion of the basin have rapid torrential streams, narrow and interrupted 

 bottom lands, and very steep and rocky mountain slopes. 



The area of the basin is 569,920 acres, of which 76 per cent is wooded. 



Soil. The soil is in general very good, especially in the lower portion of the 



