188 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



or more families on this part of the stream. There are very few in the lower 

 part of the basin. 



ALARKA CREEK BASIN (sWAIN COUNTY, N. c). 



Area. Total, 38 square miles; cleared, .5 square miles; wooded, 33 square 

 miles; severely burned, none. 



Surface. The entire basin is very rough. There are only a few small 

 alluvial bottoms. The upper part lies on the steep and, in many places, very 

 rough and rocky slopes of the Alarka and Co wee mountains. In the lower 

 part there are some hills with more gentle slopes. Six miles from its head the 

 creek is walled in by cliflfs, so that no road can be built up it. 



Soils. The soils are gray loams and loose loams, derived from gneiss. In 

 many places they are fairl}^ deep; but they are generally shallow, especially on 

 south sides, and are often very rocky. 



Humus and litter. Leaf mold is abundant on north slopes in the hollows. 

 South slopes have been badly burned, however, and there is very scant humus. 



Agricultural value. Corn and grass are crops commonly cultivated. Some 

 oats are grown and a small amount of wheat. The soils, however, are not 

 productive, and farming is carried on at a great disadvantage. 



Timber trees. The oaks form about 45 per cent; chestnut, 35 per cent; linn 

 and buckeyes, about 5 per cent, and birch 2 per cent of the forest. There is 

 very little poplar. The best oak and ash have been cut. 



Yield. The merchantable timber is confined to the head of the creek. The 

 yield is less than 3,000 feet B. M. per acre. 



Demand. There is no local demand, and the distance from the railroad 

 renders it unprofitable to cut any but the best timber and to haul any but the 

 best lumber. 



Accessibility. There is no road all the way down the creek, and hauling 

 from the head of the creek to Bryson City must be done over a mountain of 

 some size. It is 15 miles from the upper part of the basin to Bryson City. 

 The road is in very bad condition, but parts of it could readily be improved, 

 and a new one, much better graded, could be built easily and cheaply. 



Cutting. No mills are at present in operation. Nearly all of the best timber, 

 except at the head of the creek, has been logged. 



Second growth. Second growth is largelj'^ limited to oak and chestnut sprouts 

 on burned land and the culled woodland adjacent to the farms. 



Undergrowth. There is scant underwood, except on the upper left prong 

 of the creek, where there is a dense laurel thicket covering several square miles. 



