FRENCH BROAD RIVER BASIN ABOVE SKYLAND. 135 



TJndefrgrowth. Brush is usually light except along the ravines, where laurel 

 abounds. 



Reproduction. Free, except as the seedlings are killed by fire. 



Rate of growth. Rapid. 



Water power. In Laurel Creek there is enough water with abundant fall for 

 mills of medium size, but on Foster Creek the flow is too inconstant. 



Occupancy. ^ About 30 families are living on this tract. 



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



SHELTON LAUREL CREEK DISTRICT (mADISON COUNTY, N. C.) 



Boundaries. On the north and east, the Tennessee State line; on the south, 

 the Spillcorn divide; and on the west, Allen Stand divide. 



Area. Total, 38 square miles; cleared, 4.65 square miles; wooded, 33.35 

 square miles. 



Surface. There are about 600 acres of alluvial bottom land, which is nearl}- 

 level. The remainder is hilly to mountainous. 



Soil. rFertile loam. 



Agricultural ^alue. Corn and grass yield very well until the fields begin to 

 wash. About 1,500 acres are well adapted to farming. 



Tlmher trees. White pine, 30 per cent; hemlock, 5 per cent; white oak, 10 

 per cent; red oak, 5 per cent; chestnut, 5 per cent; gum, 5 per cent; maple, 5 

 per cent.; linn, 6 per cent; cucumber, 4 per cent; other species, 25 per cent. 



Yield. Log timber, 67,304 M feet B. M.; small wood, 320,000 cords. 



Demand. The best log timber brings from %1 to $2 per thousand feet on 

 the stump. 



Accessibility. This land is not difficult to log, but it is nearly 20 miles from 

 rail, by a rough and hilly wagon road which is often impassable. 



Fire. Fires are very frequent, especially on the ridges in the northern part, 

 where large amounts of timber have been killed and the forest is reduced to 

 scattered survivors and sprouts of oak, chestnut, and maple. 



Second growth. Very deficient, except on small areas near clearings. 

 Elsewhere fires have been too severe. 



Undergrowth. Laurel is dense along the streams and in north coves. There 

 is also much brush on the burned land. 



Rej)roduction. On much of the tract reproduction is prevented by the fires; 

 but where protected valuable species are sometimes found in great abundance. 

 White pine is the most promising species in this region. 



Rate of growth. Rapid. 



Water power. Limited. The lower portion of this stream would furnish 

 enough power for factories of medium size, but the flow is somewhat inconstant, 

 and seems to fluctuate the more as the burns and the clearings reduce the forest. 



