210 THE SOUTHEEN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



Undergrowth. There is scant undergrowth, except occasional thickets of 

 laurel on alluvial bottoms and on damp north slopes. 



Rate of growth. Accretion is good, except at high elevations and on the 

 poor, dry soil of steep southern slopes. 



Water power. The water power is limited. 



Ownership. There are 21 families on the stream, living at or below the 

 flats. There is considerable forest land suitable for agriculture on the upper 

 part of the stream, which will be placed in cultivation as soon as the timber is 

 cut and the land open to purchase. 



Prices of land. Farming land sells at $7 to $10 per acre; woodland, at $1 

 to %Z an acre. 



CANEY FORK BASIN (jACKSON COUNTY, N. c). 



Area. Total, 52 square miles; cleared, 4 square miles; wooded, 48 square 

 miles; burned, 1 square mile. 



Surface. This area is extremely rough and rocky. The greater part of it 

 is on the southern slope of the Balsam Mountains, and consists of a series of 

 deep, parallel, north-south gorges alternating with steep and lofty ridges. There 

 are only a few large tributaries, which enter the main river from the south- 

 east. Those from the south head on Charlie Ridge and drain a very rough 

 country. There is only a small amount of alluvial land and a small area of 

 gentle slope. 



Soil. The soils are gray, loose loams, generally coarse grained, but in some 

 places fine' grained, derived from gneiss, schists, and metamorphosed sandstones; 

 on very limited areas they are red and stiffer, derived from sandstones. 



Agricultural value. The soils are generallj' of good quality, and in many 

 places produce fine grass and corn, but they are too steep to be economically 

 cultivated and often wash badly. Some of the streams, such as Moses Creek, 

 are well cleared, while others have only a few clearings. 



Huimis and litter. Many of the south slopes have been veiy badly burned 

 and the humus has been mostly destroyed. In nearly all of the hollows, how- 

 ever, it has been undisturbed. 



Timber trees. The forests are formed of characteristic Appalachian hard 

 woods. Oak forms about 40 per cent; chestnut, about 35 per cent; maple, 

 birch, ash, linn, buckeye, and yellow poplar in relative abundance about in the 

 order named, form the larger part of the remainder. In some of the deep 

 gorges there are large compact forests of hemlock, and there is some scattered 

 spruce at high elevations on a few of the streams. 



Yield. The average yield is about 2,500 feet B. M. per acre. 



