DESCEIPTION OF DRAINAGE BASINS. 265 



SALUDA AND FIRST AND SECOND BROAD RIVER BASINS. 



Top(Mjraphy. The small portions of these two drainage systems examined are 

 so similar that they may be described together. Both lie on the southeastern 

 slope of the Blue Ridge, and both drain into the Atlantic through Santee River. 



The Blue Ridge at the heads of these basins is about 3,000 feet in elevation 

 and the lowest land covered by these descriptions is about 1,200 feet. The slopes 

 drained by the Saluda are steep and often precipitious, and include Table Rock 

 and Caesars Head, both bold, rocky points, affording two of the grandest views 

 in the whole region. The cascades and falls through the glens of South Saluda 

 and other creeks are very pretty. There is very little alluvial land on the creeks 

 until they reach the plain at the foot of the Blue Ridge. The slopes drained by 

 the broad rivers are more moderate. The spurs reach out long distances toward 

 the plains, while between these spurs are rapid but seldom cascading creeks, 

 with somewhat interrupted alluvial bottom lands. 



Saluda River basin has an area of 30,796 acres, of which 94 per cent is 

 wooded. The Broad River basins have an area of 54,400 acres, of which 80 per 

 cent is wooded. 



Soil. In both regions the soils are derived from granite, gneiss, and 

 frchists, which, when they remain in place, make excellent land, but when 

 washed and the finer sediments left in one place, the coarser in another, become 

 less desirable, as the clays thus formed are stiff, impervious to water, and hard to 

 work, while the gravels are porous and light. 



Agriculture. Corn and cane are the principal crops of this region. Some 

 grass is grown on the small clearings in the higher altitudes, and some inferior 

 orchards are seen. Sweet potatoes are grown on every plantation, and a few 

 small cotton fields are found on the edge of the plain. 



The lack of grass on most of this area leaves the surface exposed to the 

 cutting action of falling rain, and the eroding effect is so severe and so evident 

 that, in the foothills, no one attempts agriculture upon the ridges. Even the 

 gentler slopes on the borders of the alluvial bottoms are often gullied until they 

 become not only worthless themselves, but are a source of damage to the bottom 

 lands below, which receive the material washed from them. 



Even with such protection as the frequently burned forests afford, the humus 

 is washed from the woods, and, being light, is carried far down the stream to 

 still waters before it finds a lodging place. 



The forest. Substantially all the ridges and steeper slopes are forested more 

 or less densely, while the creek bottoms are cleared. The cleared area comprises 

 6 per cent of the Saluda basin and 20 per cent of the Broad River basins. 



