FORESTS OF THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS 219' 



being to a certain extent shade-bearing, the density can scarcely 

 be too great until the trees reach the size of large poles. The rate 

 of height-growth is more rapid than that of any of the associated 

 species, averaging for the first fifty years over a foot of height-growth 

 a year ; and for the first ten years nearly 18 inches a year, so 

 that the young trees quickly free themselves from the shade of 

 broad-leaf trees when growing with them. 



The white pine seeds many old fields, but not so quickly or 

 thoroughly as the short-leaf pine. In such groves of pure pine 

 the stand should be kept thick and should not be culled until the 

 height-growth is made. If grown in pure wood, selection cutting 

 would best preserve the factors of the locality, but there are many 

 places where clear cutting would be permissible. The proportion 

 of pine in wood mixed with broad-leaf trees can well be increased 

 to twice or even three times what it is at present, as it is the 

 most valuable tree growing on these gravelly hills. The pine 

 begins to seed in abundance when about forty or forty-five years 

 old, and seed are borne abundantly once in 2 or 3 years. 



THE FORESTS OF THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS. 



These forests embrace all the woodland lying at an elevation 

 above that of the forests of the lower hills and below 5,000 feet. 

 The lower limit of their distribution is about 3,000 feet, but on 

 southern slopes, particularly along the Blue Ridge, the distinct- 

 ive character of the growth does not appear for several hundred 

 feet above this limit, following closely the isothermal with the 

 variation incidental to changes in moisture in the soil, depth of 

 soil, and its physical characters. 



The greater part of the woodland of the counties of Alleghany,. 

 Ashe, Watauga, Mitchell, and Yancey is so situated ; and in the 

 mountain region to the south of these counties, the woodland 

 lying around the base and on the slopes of the larger mountain 

 masses. 



About one-third of the area originally occupied by these for- 

 ests is now under tillage or in meadow ; the rest is more nearly 

 virgin than any other considerable extent of forest to be found in 

 this State. The situation, on steep slopes or rugged declivities,. 



