SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 



59 



tivation; but with an increasing population the demand for 



additional fields to cultiv^ate has led to the clearing of these 



mountain-side patches successively higher up the slopes, 



until now the area of these clearings considerably exceeds 



the area of the bottom lands. This process has gone on the 



more rapidly because of the rapiditj' with which these 



steep lands have been worn out and abandoned. There are 



yet many places where the gentler slopes might perhaps 



be cleared to meet the agricultural demands of the region, 



but unquestionabl}^ the steeper areas already cleared should 



be at once reforested in order to prevent their early rum. aban^don'e'd 



All lands in this region remaining cleared for farming Isfed.*^ 



purposes should be kept in the highest state of cultivation, 



and those of even the gentler slopes should be careful!}' 



terraced, and as far as possible kept in grass or orchards. 



The effect of exposing mountain lands to the full power 

 of rain, running water, and frost is not generally appreci- 

 ated. The greater part of our population lives on level 

 land and does not see how the hills erode, and even in the 

 hills nearlj' all the people go indoors when it rains and 

 therefore do not half understand what is going on. In 

 the dashing, cutting rains of these mountains the earth of 

 freshly burned or freshly plowed land melts away like 

 sugar. The streams from such lands are often more than 

 half earth and the amount of best soil thus eroded every 

 year is enormous. 



The individual owners are to a great extent helpless in getted™'^'^^ 

 preventing these unwise cuttings, clearings, and forest 

 fires. Some of them can care for their own lands, but they 

 can not, owing to their small holdings and small incomes, 

 regulate the policy which controls adjacent areas. Only 

 cooperation on a great scale, such as Government owner- 

 ship could provide, can stop these forest fires, check this 

 reckless clearing, and preserve these resources to the best 

 advantage. 



The two great needs of this mountain region are: 



1. The use of the land for the purpose to which it is best 

 adapted, which would require the keeping of 80 to 90 per 

 cent of it in forest, while the cleared land should be kept 

 in the highest state of cultivation for farm products. 



2. Efiicient and cheap transportation for the forest 

 products. 



