46 



FOEEST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 



siderable undeveloped agricultural land in the large holdings, this is 

 typically a mountain county which will remain largely dependent on its 

 forests for its revenue and prosperity. 



HENDERSON COUNTY. 



Henderson County, with an area of nearly 232,000 acres, has a larger 

 proportion of comparatively level land than most of the mountain coun- 

 ties. The Blue Ridge crosses the eastern part of the county and the 

 Pisgah range borders it on the west. Between these two is a large 

 plateau drained by the French Broad and its principal tributaries, 

 Mills River and Mud Creek. The south slope of the Blue Ridge is 

 drained by Green and Broad rivers, both flowing eastward. 



The rock formation is mostly granitic. The soil is sandy, underlaid 

 by deep red clay, except in the southern part where clay comes to the 

 surface. Though not the best agricultural land, the soil is productive 

 when properly farmed and fertilized. 



The county is well provided with railroad facilities, the Toxaway and 

 Spartanburg branches of the Southern Railway connecting it with all 

 important markets. The public roads form a complete network over 

 the greater part of the county and are kept in condition by the county 

 chain-gang. A few areas along the more distant borders, however, are 

 still somewhat inaccessible. On Big Hungry River, about the head- 

 waters of Green River and in the extreme northwestern part of the 

 county are large areas, several thousand acres in extent, that are too far 

 removed from the railroad to be properly opened up for lumbering or 

 settlement. 



These three localities, together with the Broad River drainage basin 

 in the northeastern part of the county, include all of the best timber, 

 though the larger and better poplar is mostly culled out. Whip sawing 

 has been extensively practiced in lumbering poplar, and is still employed. 

 Some logging was done in the extreme northwest, chiefly on the Yander- 

 bilt estate, and the timber splashed down Mills River from 12 to 15 

 years ago. Elsewhere in the county most of the merchantable timber 

 has been cut. 



Since there are so few extensive tracts of valuable timber in the 

 county there are few large mills, but 25 or more small mills are scat- 

 tered over the county; none of them cut much more than half a million 

 feet annually. Many of them have little else than small black oak and 

 poor quality pitch and shortleaf pine to work^ on. Among these mills 

 are at least three old-fashioned sash-saw water mills; their presence in- 

 dicates the exhaustion of the supply of accessible timber, since the 

 owners say it would not pay to install modern circular saws. Several 



