SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 



75 



of the area, by reason of which a rise of the three main 

 tributaries at one time ma}- muse a flood in the river. 

 There is no room for doubt, however, that the large 

 amount of cleared land in this basin greatly increases the 

 floods. Every resident who has known the river ten years 

 or more states very positively that the volume of water is 

 now much less constant than in former years. In Yancey 

 County many of the steep slopes in the basins of Caney 

 River, Bald Ci'eek, and in the vicinity of Burnsville, which 

 have for many successive years been planted in corn or 

 small grain, are deeplj^ eroded, and some such fields have 

 been abandoned. The same statement will apply to much 

 steep land in Mitchell County, on the waters of Cane and 

 Big Rock creeks, and in the vicinit}^ of Red Hill. The 

 lands at higher elevations, which have been retained in 

 grass, are less damaged. 



The alluvial lands of the Nolichucky were severely 

 washed by several freshets during the spi'ing and summer 

 of 1901, the most severe being that of May 20 to May 

 23, which caused damage to land and other property in 

 Mitchell Count}' to the amount of $500,000 or more. All 

 of the soil on the flood plain of Cane Creek, 9 miles in 

 length, was removed, leaving only the large stones and 

 rocks, and many ,line farms on North Toe River were 

 destroyed. More than twenty dwellings, sevei'al mills 

 and dams, and many million feet of saw logs are known to 

 have been washed away. In addition, the damage to the 

 public highways was $50 or moi-e per mile, aggregating 

 $50,000, while the railroad sustained an equal loss in the 

 injury to roadbed, bridges, and culverts. (See PI. 

 XXXV (b) showing wreckage from Mitchell County, 

 lodged near Erwin, Tenn.) 



Although greatly broken by clearings, large areas of Tt>e forest, 

 woodland remain on the Unicoi and parallel ranges on the 

 northwestern border, on Roan Mountain, the Blue Ridge, 

 the Black Mountain group, and the western tributaries of 

 Cane}^ River. In composition there is great variet}'. 

 Spruce and balsam prevail on the highest portions of the 

 Black, Roan, and Sampson mountain groups. Hemlock, 

 birch, maple, cucumber, ash, buckeye, linn, and other 

 moisture-loving trees line the ravines, while oak, chestnut, 

 gun], and other hard woods cover the ridges of the higher 

 altitudes. Oak and pine form a less dense cover, usually 

 very brush3^ on the ridges of lower altitude. 



