90 



SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 



YADKIN RIVER BASIN. 



[253,120 acres; .34 pur ci.'nt wuoded.] 



Topography. The poi'tioii of the basin of thi.s river examined includes 

 the ea.stern slope of the Blue Ridge, with its outlyers 

 from Bullhead Mountain southward to Blowing Rock, 

 and is drained by the head streams of the Yadkin and all 

 of its northern tributaries eastward to and including 

 Roaring River. The crest of the Blue Ridge, with an 

 average elevation of more than 3,500 feet, limits the area 

 on the north; and from this numerous sharp and steep 

 .spurs penetrate the area, dividing it into a series of nar- 

 row parallel northwest-and-southeast trending basins, 

 from the southern ends of which the streams emerge and 

 unite to form the Yadkin, at an elevation of about 1,000 

 feet. 



The topography is rough, the slopes of the ridges steep, 

 and the intervening valleys narrow, showing unchecked 

 natural erosion from a high plateau region to a lower base 

 level, in a country with rock of varying hardness and an 

 abundant rainfall. 



The alluvial lands in the valleys are narrow strips or 

 small bodies, seldom more than a few acres in extent, of 

 dark, sandy-loam soils, rich in humus, and fertile, or occa- 

 sionally of coarse sand and poor. The soils of the uplands, 

 produced by the decomposition of slates, sandstones, and 

 gneiss, are highh' silicious and often coarse and poor. On 

 north slopes and in the hollows accumulated mold adds to 

 the fertility and checks the removal of the liner clayey 

 particles, while the poverty of the naturall}" infertile south 

 slopes is augmented b}' repeated fires which destro}^ the 

 litter and facilitate the removal of the finer particles of 

 the soil b}^ the heavy rains. 



Agriculture. Com is the Staple crop, both on the alluvial lands and 

 on the slopes at lower elevations; while corn, grass, and 

 some apples are cultivated on the shady north slopes at 

 high elevations and in the deep, cool hollows that indent 

 the face of the mountain. 



Some of the alluvial bottoms have been damaged by 

 being washed and gullied by freshets, or by the deposit of 

 coarse sand and gravel brought down from the mountains. 



Erosion. Many of the steep slopes, exposed to erosion by the naked 

 cultivation required for corn, have been gullied to the bed 

 rock, and their agricultural value is temporarih^ destroj^ed. 

 Many such abandoned fields are being colonized by wind- 



