118 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



poplar, 1 per cent; chestnut oak, 5 per cent; cucumber, 3 per cent; black oak, 3 

 per cent; beech, 2 per cent; hemlock, 6 per cent; white pine, 2 per cent; other 

 species, 30 per cent. 



Yield. hog timber, 30,308 M feet B. M.; small wood, 160,720 cords. 



Demand. Log timber has been sold by the tree at from 50 cents to $1.50 

 each, but 40 of the best trees have been sold at $6 each. 



Accessibility. ^ Although the mouth of this creek is but 8 miles from the 

 railroad, the wagon road is so rough and so often impassable that this basin is 

 very difficult of access. The slopes also are rough, brushy, steep, and rocky, 

 making logging operations expensive. 



jF'ire. Occasionally fires have run over the higher ridges, but the damage 

 has been less than usual, very few large trees having been killed; the forest, 

 however, is not in as good condition as it would be if the fires had been prevented. 



/Second growth. Saplings are abundant and a large proportion of them are 

 of valuable species. 



TJndergrmjotli. There is much laurel along the ravines and northern slopes; 

 other brush is abundant except on the ridges. 



Rate of growth. Rapid. 



Water power. Caney River at the north of this creek would furnish abundant 

 power for large factories, but Bald Creek is small and inconstant, though there 

 is very favorable ground for holding water near its mouth. 



Occupancy. About 35 families are living in this basin. 



Prices of land. Mountain land is worth from 50 cents to $3 per acre; farm 

 land, from $5 to $20. 



JACKS CREEK DISTRICT (MITCHELL COUNTY, N. c). 



Boundaries. On the north, Toe River; on the east, the summit of Green 

 Mountain; on the south Little Crabtree divide; on the west, Caney River divide. 



Area. Total, 28 square miles; cleared, 16 square miles; wooded, 12 square 

 miles. 



Surface. Rolling to hilly, with very narrow and interrupted creek bottoms. 



Soil. Red clay loam, with small areas of alluvial land along the creeks and 

 river. 



Agricultural value. Under corn and grass this land has been very productive, 

 but is now in poor condition, much of it being worn out and eroded. About 8 

 square miles are adapted to permanent agriculture. 



Timher trees. Oaks, 35 per cent; chestnut, 20 per cent; hickory, 8 per cent; 

 hemlock, 5 per cent; gum, 3 per cent; other species, 29 per cent. The timbered 

 tracts are small and severel}'^ culled. 



