FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 49 



plies chiefly from outlying counties. There are many portable mills 

 which cut small amounts of timber here and there over the county, 

 though only one or two large logging operations have been attempted. 



The forests have been so closely and so frequently cut over that there 

 is little virgin timber left. Practically the only good timber is on the 

 high, steep mountains in the northeast and even here most of the larger 

 poplar was culled out years ago. There still remains some smaller pop- 

 lar and considerable chestnut, red and chestnut oaks, and a little maple. 

 The best timbered stands are variously estimated at from 2,000 to 7,000 

 board feet of merchantable timber per acre, with 3,000 feet of saw 

 timber as a fair average. Throughout the remaining forested portions of 

 the county there is little salable saw timber left. Second growth, espe- 

 cially of the different species of pine, has come in abundantly on the 

 more severely cut over woods of the rolling uplands as well as on the 

 old fields. Pine does not seem to flourish above 2,500 feet in elevation. 

 Eeproduction of the hardwoods, such as chestnut, poplar, and the oaks, 

 is abundant on the steeper and higher slopes, while locust is found prin- 

 cipally on the abandoned cleared lands. In the flat woods, a gravelly 

 area in the southeastern part of the county, young chestnut is almost 

 entirely absent, and even the old trees which were once common have 

 nearly all died. 



There is a strong sentiment against burning the woods and much of 

 the woodland has not been burnt for many years. Carelessness on the 

 part of farmers in cleaning up land for cultivation in the spring has, 

 however, been the cause of several very destructive fires. 



The forests of Buncombe have their chief value to the people in 

 furnishing fuel, posts, and other timber for local uses, and in preventing 

 erosion. While the mountainous regions in the outskirts of the county 

 will continue to produce timber of the more valuable kinds, the forests 

 of the central part will be required chiefly to supply the local needs. By 

 keeping fire out absolutely, and by cutting for fuel all the slow growing, 

 inferior species, the productiveness and value of these forests should con- 

 tinuously increase. 



MADISON COUNTY. 



Madison County contains approximately 270,000 acres. About 35 

 per cent of the land is held in large holdings of 1,000 acres or more in 

 extent, which are situated for the most part in the northern and west- 

 ern portions of the county, where the land is valued chiefly for its tim- 

 ber. The topography, like that throughout the western part of the State, 

 is rough. The highest point is Sandy Mush Bald, in the extreme south- 

 western corner, which reaches an elevation of 5,168 feet, while the lowest 

 4 



