LITTLE TENNESSEE KIVER BASIN. 195 



ever been done, except for local use, although an attempt was made to float 

 timber from some of the lower tributaries to Dillsboro. This, however, was 

 abandoned. 



Second groivth. Second growth in most places is scant and is largel}" formed 

 of stool shoots of small white oak and chestnut oak, chestnut, and sourwood on 

 burned land. There is some young white pine which has appeared in open places. 



Undergrowth. There are dense thickets of laurel along nearly all of the 

 streams and some thickets on south slopes. In many places the forest is brushy 

 with stool shoots which have followed fires. 



Rate of growth. The trees grow slowly and onl}^ under the best conditions 

 attain a large size. Along the Blue Ridge hemlocks 300 years old bareh^ scale 

 100 feet, and oak and chestnut both show the result of the adverse conditions. 

 In the warm, southern hollows, where the soil is better, a far more rapid rate of 

 accretion is shown. 



Water power. There are many small falls which could furnish power for 

 manufacturing plants and a few places are suitable for the erection of high dams. 

 The stream is not large enough, however, to yield more than 5 horsepower, per 

 foot fall. This, possibly, is somewhat oflset by the constancy of its flow. 



Ownership. In the lower part of the basin the land is divided into small 

 holdings in the possession of residents. 



Prices of land. B'arming land sells at $4 to $15 per acre; woodland, at $1 to 

 $4 per acre. The greater part of the land suitable for agj-iculture is at present 

 in cultivation. 



CULLASAGEE KIVER BASIN FROM FRANKLIN TO THE MOUTH OF BUCK CREEK (mACON 



COUNTY, N. C). 



Area. Total, 40 square miles; cleared, 12 square miles; wooded, 28 square 

 miles. 



Surface. For 6 miles above Franklin the basin is a broad valley with wide 

 alluvial lands bordering the river. Beyond the alluvial lands are low, rounded 

 hills, the flanks of which become steeper, both to the north and to the south, as 

 the mountains are neared. From 6 miles above Franklin to the mouth of Buck 

 Creek the valley gradually narrows. There is very little bottom land, the 

 country becomes rough, especially on the north side of the river, where for 

 several miles below the mouth of Buck Creek there are high bluflfs, the country 

 beyond being cut into a series of deep, narrow valleys, which are separated by 

 ridges with steep slopes and drained by several small streams. 



Soil. The alluvial lands have a deep, fine-grained, silty or loamy soil, largely 

 mixed with organic matter, and are largely cleared and under cultivation. They 



