192 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



basin. The yield in the upper part will not be more than 3,000 feet B. M. 

 per acre. 



Demand. On account of the nearness to the railroad there is great demand 

 for good lumber suitable for shipping. There is also some local demand for 

 pit posts for mining and for common lumber for domestic building and fencing. 

 Tan bark brings good prices. Locust and oak stock for insulator pins and 

 railroad ties are being bought. Some chestnut telegraph poles have been cut, 

 and it is probable that in a few years the demand will increase greatly. 



Accessibility. ^The headwaters of the creek are only about 12 miles from 

 Dillsboro, on the Asheville and Murphy Branch of the Southern Kailway. The 

 wagon road down the creek is in fair condition, and there are no long, steep hills. 



Cutting. Two mills are at present cutting on the stream. The best of the 

 merchantable timber, except on some small holdings which are being reserved, 

 has been cut. 



Second growth. Oak sprouts form the characteristic growth on cut-over 

 lands. In the lower part of the basin, scrub, yellow, and black pines form much 

 of the second growth in culled woods and in old fields. 



Undergrowth. There is very little underbrush, except thickets of young 

 trees in culled woods. 



Reproduction. ^The hard woods reproduce freely by stool shoots, and 

 numerous thickets of seedlings in culled woods show that the forest will respond 

 gratefully to careful treatment. 



Rate of growth. Accretion is generally rapid, unless the soils are sterile, 

 as is the case over a few limited areas on the red hills. 



Water 'power. There is ample fall in the stream, but the amount of water 

 is too small to yield more than a limited power. This is being utilized to 

 some extent by several small mills. 



Ownership. The forest land is largelj'^ held in small areas by residents. 

 There is only one tract of more than 1,000 acres in the basin. 



Occupancy. The valley is well settled, and there are probably more than 

 100 families living in it. 



Prices of lam,d. Woodland sells at |2 to $4 per acre; farming land, at $5 

 to $100 per acre. 



CULLOWEE RIVER BASIN ( JACKSON COUNTY, N. C). 



Area. Total, 28 square miles; cleared, 6 square miles; wooded, 22 square 

 miles; burned, none. 



Surface. In the lower part of the basin are low, rounded hills with small 

 mountains beyond them. The upper part is a series of long, narrow, gorge-like 

 valleys with very steep slopes. 



