258 THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN FORESTS. 



Fire. The land is burned over as often as material accumulates to support 

 a fire usually every year. Many trees are injured and the brush is subdued, 

 while young growth is decimated or entirel}'^ prevented. 



Reproduction. Free on all the better soils, except as affected by tire and 

 grazing. 



Second growth. Deficient, owing to the prevalence of fire. 



Under groiDth. Though many seedlings start very few are able to form trees, 

 as they are either killed by fire or eaten oft' by cattle. The natural supply of 

 brush, which would otherwise be abundant in this pine forest, is kept very thin 

 by fires and grazing. 



Rate of growth. Medium to slow. 



Water power. Abundant along the river. Near Burton the river is 75 feet 

 wide and li feet deep, and rapid. 



Prices of land. The best farm land can be bought for $10 per acre, while 

 the price of mountain land is nominal. 



TIGER CREEK BASIN (rABUN COUNTY, GA.). 



Area. Total, 20 square miles; cleared, 2.44 square miles; wooded, 17.56 square 

 miles. 



Surface. About 4 square miles of the lower portions of the valleys are 

 smooth enough to be arable. The remainder is hilly. 



Soil. The lower lands are generally sandy loam, while the soil on the slopes 

 is usually a loam, derived from a decomposition of gneiss in place. 



HuTYi'iH and litter. Ver\'^ little. 



Agricultural value. Some of the lower lands are very productive when new, 

 but most of the old clearings have been depleted by repeated cropping without 

 fertilization. The ridge lands are not worth cultivating. 



Timber trees. Substantiall}^ the same as in the Tallulah Valley, but here the 

 average growth is more vigorous and the stand is better. 



Yield. \iOg timber, 21,049 M feet B. M.; small wood, 168,540 cords. 



Demand. There is very little demand for timber. The best log timber is 

 delivered at the mill for $3 per thousand feet, and the sawed lumber is delivered 

 at Tallulah Falls for $9 per thousand feet. The demand for local use is small. 



Accessibility. A fair wagon road leads to Tallulah Falls, a distance of about 

 12 miles. In the forests there are no serious obstacles to logging. 



Cutting. Very little cutting has been done, except to clear land for necessary 

 buildings and fences. 



Fire. Most of the area is burned over ever}' year, and timber and pasturage 

 are thus injured and young growth is prevented. 



