250 I'HE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



light soil and are hardly worth cultivating. Some rich, dark loam is found in 

 the coves, but such areas are small. 



Humus and litter. Scant, except in the north ravines and coves. 



Agricultural value. ^Twenty bushels of corn per acre is considered a good 

 crop. In the lowlands little else can be grown. Grain and fruit succeed in the 

 coves where the altitude is 2,500 feet or more, especially if the exposure is 

 toward the north. 



Timber trees. The principal timber trees are the oaks, forming 60 per cent 

 of the forest; chestnut, 15 per cent; hickory, 6 per cent; poplar, ash, cherry, 

 walnut, and cucumber together, 10 per cent, and others, 9 per cent. 



Yield. luog timber, 25,956 M feet B. M.; small wood, 240,000 cords. 



Demand. The highest sturapage price is %1 per thousand feet. Many of the 

 most valuable trees have been bought at 50 cents per tree and left standing. 



Accessihility. Except for the long distance to shipping points, there is no 

 especial difficulty in logging this land. 



Cutting. There has been no cutting, except for local use. Large amounts 

 of best timber have been cut and burned in clearing land. 



Fire. Frequent light tires have reduced the undergrowth and the pasturage, 

 at the same time injuring many of the timber trees and preventing the growth 

 of young stock. 



RepToduction. Abundant, except where fires and grazing are severe. Old 

 clearings are slowly restocked with persimmon, sassafras, the oaks, and the pines. 



Second growth. In some localities, usually where best protected by fire, 

 saplings are abundant, but as a rule there are not enough to fully occupy the 

 land if the mature trees were cut. 



Undergrowth. Reduced by fire and grazing. Very little brush, except on 

 damp areas. 



Rate of groivth. Moderate. 



Water power. High tower Creek, near its mouth, was 35 feet wide and 1 foot 

 deep, with a rapid current during a dry time in October, 1900. 



Ownership. Nearly all of the tract is divided into numerous small holdings 

 by residents of the valley. 



Prices of land. Thirty dollars per acre is asked for the best farm lands. 

 Much of the mountain land could be bought for 50 cents per acre. 



SWALLOW CREEK BASIN (tOWNS COUNTY, GA.). 



Area. Total, 8 square miles; cleared, 1 square mile; wooded, 7 square miles. 

 Surface. Most of the lower slopes are moderate, but the middle and upper 

 slopes are steep and often ro(;ky. 



