158 THE SOUTHEKN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



HEMPHILL CREEK BASIN (hAYWOOD COUNTY, N. C). 



Area. Total, 11 square miles; cleared, 3 square miles; severely burned, none; 

 wooded, 8 square miles. 



Surface.^ For 1 mile above the mouth of the creek there are several small 

 alluvial bottoms, and the hills are not steep. Above this, however, there is no 

 valley land at all, and the slopes of the mountains are steep, and often precipitous 

 and rocky. 



Soil. The soil is sandy and thin and not at all fertile in the lower part of 

 the valley, and while sandy in the upper part of the v^alley, it will produce well 

 until the organic matter has been exhausted. The alluvial bottoms are generally 

 rocky. 



Humus and Utter. There is a deep accumulation of hunms in the hollows, 

 even where the slopes are steep, but on the dryer slopes and along the crests 

 of the ridges there is very little. 



Agricultural value. In spite of their rockiness the alluvial lands produce 

 well, and the uplands also for the first few years. 



Timber trees. Mixed Appalachian hard woods, associated with hemlock, com- 

 pose the forest; chestnut forms 35 per cent of the timber; oaks, -lO per cent; 

 linn, buckeye, and maple, 10 per cent. 



Yield. The forest will cut about 3,000 feet B. M. per acre. 



Demand. Owing to the distance from any shipping point, Cl3^de and 

 Waynesville being the nearest points, there is no demand except for the best 

 timber, and seldom more than $2 per thousand feet B. M. is paid for that. 



Accessibility. The mouth of the stream is 8 miles from Waynesville, over a 

 good wagon road, part of which is graded and macadamized. 



Second growth. Chestnut, associated with the oaks, forms the greater portion 

 of the second growth. It is generally abundant in culled woods unless the 

 grazing has been excessive. 



Undergrov^th. Rhododendron and Kalmia form the greater portion of the 

 undergrowth, especially on damp slopes. There are in many places thickets of 

 young trees, especially ])eech and maple. 



Reproduction. Young trees, especially oak and chestnut, are frequent 

 wherever any cutting has been done. 



Rate of groivth. Normal for this elevation and aspect. 



Water jx)^''"^^/'- The available power is limited, as the stream is small. There 

 is one small gristmill at present in operation. 



Occupancy. There are probably not more than 12 families living in the 

 basin. Nearly all of the land that is suitable for tillage has been cleared, but 

 more of the steep hillside land is yearly being brought into cultivation. 



