SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN EEGION. 



87 



SALTTDA RIVER BASIN. 



■ [30,796 acres; 94 per cent wooded.J 

 AND 



FIRST AND SECOND BROAD RIVER BASIN. 



[54,400 acres; SO per eeiit wooded.] 



The small portions of these two drainage systems exam- 

 ined are so similar thev mav be described tog-ether. Both 

 lie on the southeastern slope of the Blue liidge. and both 

 drain into the Atlantic through Santee River. 



The Blue Ridge at the heads of these basins is low — Topography, 

 about 3,000 feet — and the lowest land covered b}' these 

 descriptions is about 1,200 feet. The .slopes drained by 

 the Saluda are steep and often precipitous, and include 

 Table Rock and Ceesars Head, both bold rocky points, 

 affording two of the grandest views in the whole region. 

 The cascades and falls through the glens of South Saluda 

 and other creeks are very pretty. There is very little 

 alluvial land on the creeks until thev reach the plain at the 

 foot of the Blue Ridge. The slopes drained b}' the Broad 

 rivers are more inoderate. The spurs hei'e reach out long 

 distances toward the plains, while between these spurs are 

 rapid but seldom cascading creeks, with somewhat inter- 

 rupted alluvial bottom lands. 



In both regions the soils are derived from g-ranite, SoU. 

 gneiss, and schists, which, when they remain in place, 

 make excellent land, but when washed and the liner sedi- 

 ments left in one place, the coarser in another, become 

 less desirable, as the clavs thus formed are too stiff, too 

 impervious to water, and too hard to work, while the 

 gravels are too porous and too light. 



Corn and cane are the principal crops of this region. Agriculture. 

 Some grass is grown on the small clearing.s in the higher 

 altitudes, and some inferior oix-hards are seen. Sweet 

 potatoes are grown on everv plantation, and a few small 

 cotton fields were found on the edge of the plain. 



The lack of grass on most of this area leaves the sur Erosion, 

 face exposed to the cutting action of falling rain, and the 

 eroding effect is so severe and so evident that, in the foot- 

 hills, no one attempts agriculture upon the ndges. Even 

 the gentler slopes on the border of the alluvial bottoms 

 are often gullied until they have become not only worth- 

 less themselves, but are a source of damage to the bottom 



