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Report of the Secretary of Agriculture in relation to the forests, rivers, and mountains of the southern Appalachian region

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  • 46 SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. culled and is in part covered with trees of second growth. In many places, where transportation facilities are available, the mills have gone into the heart of the mountain region and much of the choicest timber has been sawed there and hauled on wagons to the railroad. (See PI. XXXIX.) General char- j±H t0 composition, generally speaking, it may be said acter of the for- l ' ° » 1 . • • . e e9ts- that the forest below the 2,000-foot elevation consists of oaks, hickories, and pines; above that elevation are many hard woods, or hard woods associated with hemlock and white pine. Some spruce and balsam occur on the cold north slopes and around the tops of the larger and higher mountains. DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST AND FOREST CONDITIONS, BY MOUNTAIN GROUPS. subdivision of For the sake of convenience in description the forest forest area. , . .. . , , „ n. area may be subdivided as follows: (1) The forests of the Blue Ridge. (2) The forests of the White Top Mountain group. (3) The forests of Roan, Grandfather, and Black mountains. (4) The forests of the central interior mountain ridges. (5) The forests of the Great Smoky Mountains. (6) The forests of the southern end of the Appalachians. FORESTS OF THE BLUE RIDGE. The Blue Ridge from Virginia to Georgia is, on the dryer slopes and crests, lightly timbered with small oaks, chestnut, and pines, while in the hollows mixed hard woods—oaks, chestnut, hickories, etc.—form heavy timber. The forests are on the ridges and steeper slopes. The narrow alluvial bottoms and often portions of the adjoining slopes have been cleared and are under cultivation or have been abandoned. But excepting these cleared valleys and hillsides, the forests are almost continuous from Virginia to Georgia. While the hardwood forests have been culled along nearly the entire east slope, only the choicest trees of the lighter woods, among which arc white pine, have been cut. (See PI. XXXVIII a.) Before any of it was cut the white pine on the Linville River was probably the finest in the Southern mountains. A great part of this has been removed. It is being transported on a narrow-gauge railway via Cranberry to Johnson City. Mills at Hickory and
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).