124 THE SOUTHEEN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



Cutting. There are several small mills at present cutting hard woods and 

 pine. The best and most accessible timber has already been cut. 



Second growth. Second growth consists largely of scrub pine, associated 

 with black and white pines, and sourwood and chestnut sprouts. A great portion 

 of the forest on the mountain is second growth of this character. 



Undergrovjth. Sourwood forms the undergrowth to a large extent in badly 

 burned woods; Kalmia is occasionall}'^ found. 



Rate of growth. Accretion is slow, except in favored localities. 



Waterpower. None of the streams are large enough to yield power suitable 

 for commercial purposes. 



Prices of land. Farm land on the foothills is held at $5 to $10 per acre; $1 

 to $2 per acre is reported to be the price at which the mountain lands are held. 



INDIAN CEEEK DISTRICT (UNICOI COUNTY, TENN.). 



Boundaries. Only the lower part of Indian Creek, including the basins of 

 Granny Lewis Creek, Higgins Creek, and Jake Creek, is here included. 



Area. Total, 50 square miles; cleared, 3.5 square miles; wooded, 46.5 square 

 miles; severely burned, little. 



Surface. The topography near these streams is very rough. Nearly all of the 

 surface is steep and rocky, except the flats which lie near the main stream of 

 Indian Creek, from 1 to 4 miles above its mouth. 



Soil. The soils are coarse-grained, sandy loams, usually very rocky and 

 generall}'^ shallow, derived from quartzites and slates. 



Humus arid litter. Repeated fires have robbed the soil of nmch of the 

 accumulated humus, except in damp hollows and on north slopes. 



Agricultural value. ^The soil is too thin and poor to have a high productive 

 power, although over limited areas it is deeper and of better qualit3\ The 

 rounded summits of the mountains have generally much better soil than the 

 slopes and hollows, and the}^ have not been so badly washed. Both grass and 

 apples do well. Small grain and corn, however, can not be raised as cheaply as 

 on better lands. 



Timber trees. White pine, chestnut, scarlet oak, white oak, with smaller amounts 

 of red oak, birch, maple, and poplar, in relative abundance, about in the order 

 named, compose the forests. Some hemlock is still left in the more inaccessible 

 hollows, though the greater part has already been cut for tan bark. The white 

 pine is generally of good quality where it has not been cut. The most accessible 

 has already been lumbered. 



Yield. The white pine will cut about 2,000 feet B. M. per acre. Much of it 

 has been badly burned. The hard woods will cut about 500 feet B. M. per acre. 



