FOREST CONDITIONS IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. 



33 



to agriculture. The most mountainous and inaccessible parts of the 

 county lie along its northern and eastern borders. 



The Southern Railway and the Louisville and ISTashville Railroad, 

 both terminating at Murphy, are the principal transportation lines. 

 In addition to these a logging road runs from Andrews across the Snow- 

 bird Mountains into Graham County, and a Tennessee lumber company 

 is planning to extend its narrow gauge logging railroad in to the virgin 

 timber of the Tellico River region. The roads are rough, poorly graded, 

 and poorly drained. Several miles of road running out of Andrews 

 have been macadamized, however, and Murphy Township is macadam- 

 izing its roads. 



The land is held chiefly in small holdings, and scarcely one-fourth 

 is made up of tracts of 1,000 acres or more. 



The only body of virgin timber is in the Unaka and Snowbird Moun- 

 tains at the headwaters of the Tellico River, where there are nearly 

 10,000 acres on which the timber averages about 8,000 board feet per 

 acre. Elsewhere the heavily culled forest averages scarcely more than 

 1,500 feet per acre, and consists of comparatively poor and defective 

 timber. Below 2,500 feet considerable shortleaf pine is scattered over 

 the area, associated chiefly with post and other oaks, and gums. Red 

 oak and chestnut, on the other hand, are more common at the higher 

 elevations. 



Yearly fires keep the young growth down and ruin much of the old 

 timber. Grazing is unrestricted and range burning is common. Along 

 the western border of the county many trees have been injured or killed 

 by the sulphur fumes from the copper smelters of Ducktown, Tenn. In 

 the past this smoke nuisance was much worse than now, but it is being 

 remedied. 



About 20 per cent of the county has been cleared for agriculture, but 

 much of the land proved too steep for successful farming, and has been 

 abandoned to forest. About one-fourth of this cleared land has thus 

 come up to young stands of yellow poplar or shortleaf pine. It is prob- 

 able that still another fourth is too steep for cultivation and should 

 be allowed to revert. This would aflord needed protection from soil 

 washing, and at the same time put the land to its best use. Though the 

 average farm is not very fertile, there are some very rich lands along 

 the Yalley River, which range in value from $50 to $100 an acre. 



Lumbering is growing less important with the diminishing supply of 

 timbor. Wagon hauls of from 15 to 25 miles are often necessary to 

 deliver poplar at the railroad. Other forest industries are represented by 

 a large tannery at Andrews and a furniture factory and planing mill at 

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