52 FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 



The rocky and often precipitous slopes and narrow ridges of the 

 higher mountains give place below the 4,000 foot contour to broader 

 ridges with more gentle slopes, these, in turn, gradually descending into 

 comparatively level, though narrow, valleys, where most of the land has 

 been cleared and is devoted to agriculture. 



The principal rocks are sandstones, conglomerates, and quartzites. 

 Micaceous rocks occur throughout the county, but are most abundant in 

 the eastern portion, where mica mines are being operated. The soil on 

 the higher ridges is very thin, except in the spruce formation, where, on 

 the slopes, there is a deep, black sandy loam which washes away when 

 the forest is cleared off. The lower ridges and slopes are covered with 

 a sandy clay of varying depth, which is well adapted to the production of 

 grass, and of fruits, especially apples. The principal crops are corn, 

 hay, and potatoes, all of which are used locally. Stock raising is ex- 

 tensive, and though cattle, sheep, and hogs still roam the woods in the 

 roughest districts, large areas have been cleared on the ridges for graz- 

 ing purposes. Good grass land is valued at from $10 to $15 per acre, 

 while farm land in the valley ranges from $20 to $50 per acre. 



Lumbering is carried on for the most part by small portable mills. 

 Some seven years ago a lumber company put in a band-mill near Bald 

 Mountain, built 18 miles of narrow gauge railroad down Caney River to 

 Huntdale, and failed after taking out some 15,000,000 feet of timber. 

 Lumber that is shipped out has to be hauled over rough roads, which in 

 winter and spring are almost impassable. Besides this the railroad 

 points are on the north side of the Toe River in Mitchell County, and 

 there are no bridges. Since the larger streams can not be forded after 

 heavy rains, the building of roads and bridges would enormously in- 

 crease the value of property in Yancey County. 



Burnsville, the county seat, has all the advantages of an ideal summer 

 resort, except accessibility. 



Of the 85 per cent of forest land, considerably more than half has been 

 cut over ; virgin stands still remain in the southern and western portions 

 of the county. The Murchison boundary of 13,000 acres, located on the 

 headwaters of Caney Creek, is the largest single tract of virgin timber. 



In the northern, central, and eastern portions, a large amount of the 

 land has at one time or another been cleared for agriculture, but much 

 of it has been abandoned and now generally supports a thrifty second 

 growth. Here the forests have been culled several times, and the better 

 grades of oak, poplar, and pine removed, leaving the poorer species. As 

 a result most of the woodland is second growth, with scattered old chest- 

 nuts, red oaks, poplars, and white oaks, many of which are stag-headed, 



