72 



SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 



The steep slopes west of Damascus and east of Como 

 Gap are in a very inferior forest condition, owinj^ largt'ly 

 to the long-continued prevalence of tires, which have not 

 onl}^ pi'evented a vigorous growth, but have even driven 

 out the most valuable species. 



The trees of the ridges and north slopes are short and 

 crooked, and as a rule the land is very imperfectly stocked 

 and also very brushy. The forests of some of the tril)u- 

 tar}' basins are in excellent condition, having more mois- 

 ture and better soil and having been less injured by fire. 



Except on the driest portions, lands cut or burned over 

 are quickly restocked with valuable species, while the dry 

 ridges and summits are soon occupied b}' chestnut and oak 

 sprouts or by black pine, gum, sourwood, or trees of 

 similar value. 



Prevention of fire and judicious thinning would soon 

 develop a valuable forest on these northern slopes, where 

 now there is ver}^ little material that is marketable. 



WATAUGA RIVER BASIN. 



[441,000 acres; 66 per cent wooded.] 



Topography. fhis basin, tributary to the Holston, lies almost entirely 

 within the Appalachian mountain region. The main 

 source of the river is on Grandfather Mountain, a promi- 

 nent peak of the Blue Ridge, while the last mountain gorge 

 is passed near Elizabethton. Tenn.. where the river leaves 

 the mountains. The highest points of this basin are Hol- 

 ston Mountain, 4,300 feet; Snake Mountain, 5,594 feet; 

 Rich Mountain, 5,369 feet; Grandfather Mountain, 5,964 

 feet; Beech Mountain, 5,222 feet; Yellow Mountain, 5,600 

 feet; Roan Mountain, 6,313 feet, and Ripshin Mountain, 

 4,800 feet. These are on the borders. The interior por- 

 tion is broken into man}^ subordinate ridges, reaching an 

 altitude of 3,000 to 4,000 feet, with deep, narrow valleys 

 eroded down to an altitude of 3,000 to 2,000 feet. 



Derived directly from granite, gneiss, and schist, by 

 decomposition, the soil of the mountains and ridges has 

 been fertile, much of it very fertile loam of excellent 

 phj^sical as well as chemical composition. Washing, how- 

 ever, has carried much of the desirable material down to 

 the valle3's and left the soil of the ridges inferior, espe- 

 cially on southward slopes. The valley soil is of two 

 general classes, (1) the red cla5'^ey loam of the lower foot- 

 hills and (2) alluvia) bottom land, some of which is too 



