28 PKELIMINABY STUDY OF 



Ridges. The ridges are either narrow and rounded or broad and 

 flat, but are .characterized by a thin, sandy, unproductive soil, often 

 strewn with chert fragments. Scarlet, black jack, and post oaks, 

 and hickory are the common ridge trees, constituting a type simi- 

 lar to the Cumberland Plateau ridges, but on the whole of some- 

 what better quality. In the southern part of the region, especially 

 in Wayne and Perry Counties, there are occasional belts of short- 

 leaf pine, either pure or associated with scattering post and black 

 jack oaks. The quality of the pine is much better than that of the 

 hardwoods of this type. 



CENTRAL BASIN. 



The Central Basin, an oval depression 5,400 square miles in area, 

 about 400 feet below the level of the surrounding Rim, is, on the 

 whole, a gently rolling region underlaid by limestone and possessing 

 very fertile soils. The outer portions of the region are somewhat 

 rougher. The drainage is toward the north, south, and west 

 through the Cumberland, Duck, and Elk Rivers, the two latter be- 

 ing tributaries of the Tennessee. Numerous railroads radiate from 

 Nashville, affording, together with the Cumberland River, good 

 means of transportation. The principal wagon roads are macad- 

 amized. With the exception of a few large estates, the land is held 

 in small farms. 



The chief industry of the region is agriculture. A few select 

 saw logs are shipped from various points, principally to the veneer 

 factories; while small mills, often run by threshing-machine en- 

 gines, saw a little lumber for local use. The red-cedar industry 

 centers at Murfreesboro, where there is a pencil-wood factory 

 which depends principally upon this region for its supply. This 

 species also supplies the market with a great many fence posts and 

 small poles. 



The forest is largely confined to small, ornamental groves and to 

 belts or patches of timber on broken land along the creeks and on 

 the poorer hillsides and ridges. The groves are, as a rule, located 

 near or about the farmhouses on good agricultural land. The 

 ground is usually covered with blue grass, with no tree reproduc- 

 tion. These remnants of the original forest are preserved for their 

 natural beauty, for shade about the house, or to protect the cattle 

 from the sun in the heat of summer. Stands of this type are usu- 

 ally composed of mature or overmature trees, which are often wide- 

 spreading and limby. Many of these old trees, especially the elm, 



