144 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



Cutting. Except at the heads of the streams the best timber has been cut. 



Reproduction. Reproduction is generally good. Young trees can be seen 

 everywhere in the forest, where protected from cattle and fire. 



Second growth. Below Dunsmore a great portion of the forest is formed of 

 second-growth timber in the woodland; chestnut, scarlet oak, black oak, and white 

 oak form the dominant elements of the second growth. 



Undergrowth. There are several thickets of rhododendron and Kahnia in the 

 deep hollows at the head of the basin. 



Rate of growth. Accretion is good, except at high elevations on thin, dry 

 soils. 



Water power. The main stream and its tributaries are too small to afford 

 a large power. Many mill sites are available, however, and several gristmills 

 are utilizing a portion of the power. 



Ownership. The forest land in the lower part of the basin is in small 

 holdings, generally less than 100 acres. 



Prices of land. Farming land sells at $10 to $100 per acre; woodland, at 

 $5 to $20 per acre. 



SHUT-IN CREEK BASIN (mADISON COUNTY, N. c). 



Area. Total, 15 square miles; cleared, 1 square miles; wooded, 11 square 

 miles; severely burned, 2 square miles. 



Surface. The river hills at the mouth of the creek make the topography there 

 rough and broken. For 2 miles above the mouth of the stream the valley is broad, 

 and the country slopes back toward the ridges in gentle hills or broad undula- 

 tions. This portion of the valley is thickly settled. The middle part of the basin 

 is formed of constricted, gorge-like valleys, where the main stream and its trib- 

 utaries have cut through a great mass of quartzite. This rough topography is 

 also found on the left fork of the stream to its head. There are only two small 

 farms situated upon it. The basin of the right prong opens up into a broader 

 valley under the slopes of Max Patch Mountain, where the hills have steep but 

 generally fertile slopes. 



Soil. The lower part of the basin has a fairly productive sandy-loam soil, 

 derived largely from sandstones and graj^ slates. Over limited areas yellow slates 

 prevail, yielding a more argillaceous soil. The middle part of the basin, where 

 the valley is constricted between great ridges, and the left prong, have a thin 

 sandy soil, not fertile, and in many places gravellj^ or encumbered with great 

 fragments of rock. On the right prong the soils are derived from a coarse con- 

 glomerate and, though sandy, are deep, free from stones, and well adapted to 

 tillage. 



