FOREST CONDITIONS IN TENNESSEE. 17 



logs from old cedar barns and fence rails, in some cases paying as 

 high as 10 cents a rail in addition to putting up a new wire fence. 

 Piling and posts of different sizes are also produced in large num- 

 bers. About 20 cents is paid for a 7-foot post 3 to 5 inches in diam- 

 eter at the top. Black locust is also cut for fence posts in many 

 parts of the State. 



The strong demand for chestnut poles makes a wide market for 

 straight second-growth timber of this species, which is valuable 

 for the purpose on account of its light weight and durability. The 

 poles are probably produced in greatest quantity on the western side 

 of the Cumberland Plateau. Prices vary greatly with the size. 



Pulp wood is a minor product of East Tennessee. Hemlock wood 

 is worth about $4 a cord delivered on the cars, and is shipped to 

 Canton, N. C. Poplar, basswood, and cucumber tree are worth 

 about $5.50 a cord for pulp wood, and ash, black gum, and soft 

 maple about $1 less, all delivered on the cars. These woods go to 

 Bristol for manufacture. 



There is also a general market for dogwood and persimmon for 

 shuttle blocks. The price paid for dogwood delivered at the rail- 

 road is from $7 to $8 a cord of 5-foot wood 5 inches and up in 

 diameter, and for persimmon, which usually comes in larger sticks, 

 from $5.50 to $7 a cord. 



FOREST REGIONS. 



The character of the forest growth and the distribution of wood- 

 land depend chiefly on topography, soil, and other physiographic 

 influences. Accordingly, the State may be divided into forest re- 

 gions based on physiographic divisions. Thtse divisions are the 

 Unaka Range, or Great Smoky Mountain Belt, the Valley of East 

 Tennessee, the Cumberland Plateau, the Highland Rim, the Central 

 Basin, and the West Tennessee Plateau and Bottom Lands. The ac- 

 companying map shows the approximate location of the forest re- 

 gions, and also of the areas within which the largest bodies of tim- 

 ber occur. The following descriptions are based on information 

 in the files of the Forest Service, supplemented by brief studies 

 made during the present examination in typical portions of each 

 region. They are, therefore, lacking in many details which would 

 be brought out by a longer and more thorough investigation. 



