150 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



GULF FORK BASIN (cOCKE COUNTY, TENN.). 



Area. Total, 52 square miles; cleared, 12 square miles; wooded, 40 square 

 miles; severely burned, a large area. 



Surface. The upper pail of the basin is a series of deep, narrow, nearly 

 parallel gorges opening to the north, northwest, and west, indenting the northern 

 slope of Max Patch and the associated mountains. The lower part of the basin 

 is composed of broader vallej s, with some level bottom adjoining the streams, and 

 rolling uplands, which descend gentl}^ from the high surrounding ridges which girt 

 the basin or form the crests of the watersheds between the chief tributary streams. 



/Soil. The soil for the most part is a sandy loam. In a portion of the basin, 

 especially in the rolling hills, the soils are deriv^ed from slates, and are generally 

 poor, though stiff and deep. The soils that are derived from quartzite are confined 

 to local areas, chief!}" around Hall Mountain and the western part of the basin. 

 They are sandj^ and rocky, and not fertile. In the upper part of the basin, on 

 the north slope of Max Patch Mountain, the country rock is largely' a coarse 

 conglomerate, which yields a good, though sandy, soil where the slope is not too 

 steep. 



Humu8 and litter. There is only a slight accumulation of forest litter on 

 the poorer soils derived from slates and quartzite, but in the deep gorges at the 

 heads of the streams there is a great accumulation of mold, especially toward the 

 bottoms of the hollows. 



Agricultural value. These lands are onh' fairly productive. Corn, wheat, and 

 oats are grown, the corn chiefly on the alluvial lands. Rye is no longer a commercial 

 crop. Some dark tolmcco hurleys and other heavy leaves is raised. Apples do 

 well, especiall}" on the upper waters of the streams. Grass does not do well on 

 the uplands unless on moist north slopes or at high elevations. 



Timber trees. Chestnut, scarlet oak, white pine, white oak, hemlock, black 

 pine, and chestnut oak, in relative abundance in about the order named, form 

 .the greater part of the existing forest. The black pine is largely confined to 

 sunny slopes at a low elevation, especially where the soil is sandy and well 

 drained. White pine is most abundant about the middle of the basin, though 

 small groves and isolated trees also occur throughout the lower part of the 

 valley. The hemlock is largely confined to the deep hollows at the head of the 

 basin, where it forms an almost pure forest on the floor of the gorges. 



Yield. The upper portion of the basin will yield about 4,000 feet of hard woods 

 and hemlock to the acre; the lower part of the basin, 1,500 to 2,000 feet B. M., 

 per acre, largely white pine. Some of the black pine will yield merchantable 

 timber, but the greater part of it is too knotty and rough to make any but the 



