PIGEON RIVER BASIN. 159 



Prices of land. The best farming- land brings from $10 to $50 per acre; the 

 timber land on the mountains can be bought for much less. 



GROUND HOG AND COLD SPRING CREEK BASINS (hAYWOOD COUNTY, N. c). 



Area. Total, 22 square miles; cleared, 4 square miles; wooded, 18 square 

 miles; severely burned, very little. 



Surface. Much of the land is rough. Ground Hog Creek has a fall of 

 2,500 feet in the 1 miles of its length, and its basin broadens out only near 

 the head waters into rounded hills. There are no alluvial lands on this stream. 

 Cold Spring Creek has a descent of 2,700 feet in 8 miles. Five miles above its 

 mouth the valley is narrowly constricted between cliffs, and there are several 

 other such constrictions below this one. Toward its head the valley broadens 

 out into an open basin with some gentle slopes and occasional narrow alluvial 

 valleys, but beyond these lie high and steep ridges. 



<S'o^7. The soil is a loose gray loam, derived largely from metamorphosed 

 sandstones and gray slates, or, at the head of Cold Spring Creek, from gneiss 

 and conglomerate. 



Humus and Utter. There is a deep leaf mold on the steep north slopes 

 and in the hollows. Fires pass through the brush on dr}' southern slopes at 

 frequent intervals, so that on these slopes there is little or no litter. 



Agricxdtural value. The soils are fairlj^ productive, but as most of the 

 farming land is on slopes it washes badly unless kept in grass. Apples do well, 

 and some corn and small grain is raised. There is only one large farm on either 

 creek (the Alexander farm), and this at present is without a tenant. There is no 

 clearing on Cold Spring Creek below the uppermost constriction. The farnis on 

 Ground Hog Creek are on south and east slopes, at the head of the stream. 



Timber trees. Chestnut, white oak, scarlet oak, chestnut oak, red oak, yellow 

 poplar, linn, maple, and birch, in relative abundance about in the order named, 

 form the body of the forest. There is reported to be some excellent white pine 

 on the lower part of the stream. There are several groves of hemlock near the 

 head of Cold Spring Creek. 



Yield. No cutting has ever been done for commercial purposes. There are 

 about 800 feet B. M. of poplar per acre and 3,000 to 5,000 feet B. M. of other 

 timber. There are also about 50 cords of small wood per acre. 



Demand. At present there is no demand for timber on either stream, because 

 of the distance from any shipping point. 



Accessibility. The head of either stream is about 17 miles, by way of the 

 "Gulf,"" to the nearest point on the Southern Railway, in Cocke County, Tenn. 

 The great western spur of Max Patch Mountain nmst be crossed before the 



