154 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



above Cherr}^ Gap. The West Fork is cleared almost continuously immediately 

 along the stream from Retreat to Three Forks, and there are some narrow 

 tracts of alluvial land up to this point. The farms, however, do not extend 

 bej'^ond the slopes contiguous to the main stream. The alluvial lands are only 

 fair in quality. They are sandy and are underlain b}- beds of bowlders, which 

 give thorough drainage to the lands and make them suitable for grass. Severe 

 floods are not uncommon, the streams often rising 30 feet above low-water mark 

 after heavy rains, and much of the best alluvial land has been irreparabh^ 

 damaged. Manj' of the hillsides have also been damaged by washings. The 

 soils on the whole are sandy, being principall}^ derived from sandstones in various 

 stages of induration. At the head of the streams, especially around Richland, 

 Balsam Mountain, Fork Ridge, and near the head of Pisgah Ridge, there is a 

 considerable amount of black spruce intermixed with more or less balsam. Most 

 of the spruce is of excellent quality and will cut from 20,000 to 30,000 feet 

 B. M. to the acre, though the average will scarcely be more than 10,000 or 

 15,000 feet. There are probabl}^ 8,000 or 10,000 acres of such spruce lands on 

 the headwaters of Pigeon River and Allen Fork. The greater part of this forest, 

 however, is composed of hard woods. On the steeper and drier slopes, scarlet, 

 black, white, and red oaks, with chestnut and hickory, are the typical trees; in 

 the deep hollows and on north slopes the typical trees are linn, birch, beech, and 

 buckeye, associated with ash, poplar, and occasionally cherry. There is a great 

 quantity of these woods. Very little lumbering has been done in this area, 

 though two small sawmills, with a combined capacity of 10,000 feet per day, are 

 at present cutting on the West Fork, and there is also one mill on Allen Fork 

 and one on East Fork. A larger mill is making preparations to cut on the West 

 Fork, and it is proposed to extend the railroad from Waynesville to this mill. 

 There is also a small mill on Little East Fork. These forests have been very 

 little damaged by fire, and will yield from 6,000 to 6,000 feet B. M. to the acre. 



PIGEON RIVER VALLEY BETWEEN CANTON AND FERGUSON. 



From Ferguson to Canton, a distance of about 17 miles, the river valley is 

 from 1 to 3 miles wide. The alluvial lands in some places are broad, while in 

 others they are very narrow. From them rise low hills and, in some places, 

 small mountains. Except for the latter the topography is generally rolling, 

 though east of Canton, where the headwaters of Hominy Creek are causing 

 erosion, the hollows are deep, though the slopes are rounded and free from rock. 

 The upland soils are loams or sandy loams, derived from gneiss and mica-schists, 

 in a few places red from iron, but generally gra}'. Occasionally, where hornblende 

 predominated, the soils are much stiffer. The alluvial lands are the customar}- 



