12 FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 



tance of 200 miles. Approximately parallel, to the northwest, is the 

 Unaka Range, consisting of the Stone, Iron, Great Smoky, and Unaka 

 mountains, forming the line between North Carolina and Tennessee. 

 Between these two great ranges lie the sixteen mountain counties of the 

 State: Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Swain, Macon, Jackson, Haywood, 

 Transylvania, Henderson, Buncombe, Madison, Yancey, Mitchell, Wa- 

 tauga, Ashe, and Alleghany. This region, with a total length of 230 

 miles and a width varying from 10 to 50 miles, contains the highest 

 mountains east of the Rockies, more than forty peaks rising to 6,000 

 feet or more. The topography is for the most part rugged, though there 

 are large areas of comparatively level land in several of the counties. 

 The elevations vary from about 1,300 feet, where two or three of the 

 largest rivers pass out of the State along its western border, to the 6,711 

 feet of Mt. Mitchell ; the average elevation is from 2,000 to 3,000 feet. 



Almost all the drainage is toward the north and west and, with the 

 exception of the northeast corner of the region, which is drained by New 

 River, the streams are mainly tributary to the Tennessee. Parts of a 

 few of the counties, however, extend over onto the southeast slopes of 

 the Blue Ridge, and from these small areas the streams run south and 

 east to rivers that flow into the Atlantic. 



The geological formation is chiefly Pre-Cambrian, consisting of 

 gneisses, schists, granite, diorites, and other crystalline rocks, which break 

 down into stiff red clays. With proper care these clays make excellent 

 agricultural soils. Two well-defined areas, however, of Cambrian forma- 

 tion, consisting of conglomerates, quartzites, and slates, cross the region 

 — one quite narrow, in or near the Blue Ridge, and the other in the 

 Unaka range, narrow at the northern end but widening out toward the 

 southwest until it covers practically all of Swain, Graham, and Chero- 

 kee counties and parts of several others. The soil resulting from the 

 decomposition of these rocks is sandy, with a yellowish clay subsoil, and 

 is rather less suitable for agriculture. It seems, however, to favor a 

 heavier growth of timber. 



ACCESSIBILITY. 



The accessibility of timber largely determines its value and also de- 

 termines methods of forest management. 



Western North Carolina is well supplied with railroads, there being 

 no fewer than ten railroad outlets. Yet the greater part of the best 

 timber is remote from transportation and can not be marketed profitably 

 until new lines are built or extensions made. Since 1909, however, rail- 

 road development has been rapid, so that now only the three extreme 

 northeastern counties are without railroads, while spurs or extensions 



