FRENCH BROAD RIVER BASIN ABOVE SKYLAND. 137 



SPRING CREEK BASIN BELOW BLUFF (mADISON COUNTY, N. c). 



Area. Total, 8.50 square miles; cleared, 1.25 square miles; wooded, 7.25 

 square miles. 



Surface. Mountainous; steep and rocky, excepting perhaps about 500 acres 

 in the central portion. 



Soi/. Light loam. 



Agricultural value. About 500 acres are adapted to farming. 



Tiwher trees. ^White pine, 25 per cent; black pine, 10 per cent; hemlock, 10 

 per cent; white oak, 8 per cent; scarlet oak, 6 per cent; black oak, 6 per cent; 

 hickory, 6 per cent; other species, 29 per cent. 



Yield. \jog timber, 10,400 M feet B. M.; small wood, 50,000 cords. 



Demand. The best log timber, which is pine and white oak, brings about %\ 

 per thousand feet on the stump, where fairly accessible. 



Accesihility. A good wagon road leads through the valley to Hot Springs 

 on the Southern Railway, which is about 8 miles from the remotest part of this 

 tract. 



Fire. Fires are frequent and severe; almost the entire tract is overrun each 

 vear; many of the timber trees have been killed and the forest is reduced to 

 scattered survivors with an underbrush of sprouts and shrubs, except in some of 

 the hollows, in which there is a fair stand of timber trees. 



Second growth. Very inferior because of the tires. 

 Undergrowth. Light; subdued b}- the tires. 



Rate of growth. Medium. 



Reproduction. Poor on account of tires. 

 AYater power. Excellent. 



Occupancy. About 10 families are livMng on this tract. 



Prices of land. From 50 cents to $5 per acre. 



SPRING CREEK BASIN ABOVE BLUFF (MADISON COUNTY, N. c). 



Area. Total, 1:1.50 square miles; cleared, 8 square miles; wooded, 33.60 square 

 miles. 



Surface. The valley bottom, which is frequently half a mile wide, though 

 occasionally interrupted, is undulating to rolling. The foothills and the mountain 

 sides are usually steep, but some of the coves are level enough to be arable. 



Soil. Dark loam, usually fertile. 



Agricultural value. This vallej^ is noted for its grass. About 3,500 acres 

 are adapted to agriculture. 



Timher trees. Chestnut, 2( per cent; white oak, 12 per cent; red oak, i per 



