240 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



Demand. Two dollars per thousand feet on the stump is a common price 

 for the best of the log timber. 



Accessibility. The remotest part of the tract is about 15 miles, by wagon 

 road, from the railroad at Nantahala. Some of the mountain slopes are very steep 

 and difficult of access, but the greater portion can be logged without much 

 difficulty. 



Cutting. Very nearly all of the tract has been culled of its best timber. 

 Much also has been cut for local use. 



Fire. Frequent. The humus and undergrowth are much reduced. 



Reproduction, Free on some of the damper portions. Deficient elsewhere. 



Second growth. Deficient. The effect of fire and grazing is evident, though 

 some north coves are well supplied. 



Undergrowth. There are some dense patches of laurel along streams and in 

 moist coves, but elsewhere there is no difficulty in taking horses through the 

 woods. 



Rate of growth. Generally rapid. 



Water power. Abundant in the lower portion of this valley. 



Ownership. Several thousand acres of the upper portion of the valley are 

 held by nonresidents, who lease the farm lands. Most of the remainder is held 

 by resident farmers. 



Prices of land. From |1 to 115 per acre. 



HIWASSEE RIVER BASIN. 



Topography. This drainage is tributary to Tennessee River, which the 

 Hiwassee joins above Chattanooga, and comprises the eastern tributaries of 

 Hiwassee River above Murphy, equivalent to the western slope of the moun- 

 tainous divide between Little Tennessee and Hiwassee rivers, which divide is a 

 cross range between the Blue Ridge and the Smoky Mountains. The altitude 

 of this tract ranges between 1,500 and 5,000 feet. Spurs from 5 to 20 miles 

 long reach from the divide toward the river, while deep valleys extend from 

 the river far into the mountains. 



The mountain sides are steep and often rocky, while the creek valleys, of 

 which there are six prominent ones, have considerable areas of alluvial flats and 

 rolling foothills. 



The basin has an area of 223,456 acres, of which 71 per cent is wooded. 



Soil. Even the alluvial flats along the river and creeks have a large 

 proportion of clay, and the foothills are almost entirely clay. The mountain 

 sides are loamy, the coves are very fertile, the ridges light and often stony. 



