80 



SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 



The forest. 



Topography. 



"While present erosion is limited, there is evidence that 

 it would be very great if hirge areas of the earth were 

 uncovered. 



Distrilnition. — With the exception of a few '•M)alds," or 

 grass}' areas on the higher summits, and the alluvial lands 

 of the lower coves and creek valleys, the forest of this 

 great mountain side is practicalh' unbroken. 



Composition. —The species of trees growing here num- 

 ber over 100, an unusually large number for one locality. 

 Northern and southern trees are close neighbors, and all 

 may be studied in traversing the different zones of altitude 

 from 1,500 to 6,700 feet, instead of the necessary 1,000 

 miles of latitude at an altitude of 1,000 feet. Almost 

 ever}^ tree enumerated in the accompanying list (p. 93) 

 grows here. 



Condition. — While some remarkably fine timber trees 

 are here, the general average is far inferior to what might 

 be grown with so favorable a soil and climate. Fire, graz- 

 ing, and culling have reduced this forest considerald}'- 

 below its natural condition. Imperfect trees and inferior 

 species are abundant, while some of the burns and cattle 

 ranges are ver}' deficient ii;i stand. 



Reproduction. — Hardly any other forest in the country 

 would respond so readih' to the forester's care and demon- 

 strate so plainly that nearly all of this tract is best adapted 

 to timber growing. 



LITTLE TENNESSEE RIVER BASIN. 



[1,018,0.54 acres: 91 per cent wooded.] 



Little Tennessee River with its tributaries drains a 

 large area, extending from the Blue Ridge on the south to 

 the Great Smoky Mountains on the north, including all of 

 the territory between the basins of Big Pigeon and Hiwas- 

 see rivers. Its larger tributaries are the Tuckasegee from 

 the east, the Oconalufty from the northeast, the Cheoah 

 from the southwest, and the Nantahala from the south, 

 while the upper portion of the Tennessee drains the 

 extreme southern portion, heading on top of the Blue 

 Ridge. These waters pass through the Tennessee into the 

 Ohio River. 



The upper or southern part of the basin lying on the 

 northwest slope of the Blue Ridge is an elevated plateau 

 region, having an altitude of more than 3,000 feet, with 

 low, rounded granite knobs and few high summits, and 

 broad alluvial flats, the deposit of the slow streams. The 

 Balsam, Great Smoky, and Unaka mountains, with many 



