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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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  • SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 53 woods, associated with hemlock and spruce. On the northern slopes the softer of the hard woods form the dominant element, as linn, ash, buckeye, and yellow poplar, while the proportion of oak and chestnut is smaller. The hemlock is associated with these in the deep hollows, while spruce crowns the summits of the northern slopes. On the southern slope oak and chestnut form the larger proportion of the timber, and there are less of the lighter woods and of hemlock and almost no spruce. The eastern, or French Broad River slope about Mount Pisgah, is lightly timbered with oak and chestnut and has been much damaged by fire. At present, however, it is under forest protection, and a vigorous young growth is springing up. Railroads are now being built into the forests on both the north and south slopes in order to exploit the timber. The almost precipitous walls of the beautiful Nantahala Gorge, nearly 2,000 feet deep, are forest covered throughout their entire extent. (See PI. XLI1.) FORESTS OF THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS. This segment of the Unakas is the largest mountain Topography fe & and forest con- niass in the Southern Appalachians, and it contains thc(li,i""s largest area of continuous forest (see PI. XVII), with the smallest number of clearings. It includes the Smoky Mountains from the Big Pigeon River on the northeast to McDaniel Bald on the southwest, and that part of the Balsam Mountains which lies west of Soco Gap, with their numerous spurs and subsidiary ridges. The region is rough and rugged on both north and south slopes, and rises from a low valley level of about 1,500 feet at the larger streams to more than 6,000 feet along the crests of the highest mountains. The wooded area begins on the western foothills of the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, covers the northwestern and southeastern slopes of the Great. Smokies (see PI. XLIII) and the slopes of the Cataloochee Mountain. The broad agricultural valleys of East Tennessee lie against these mountains on the northwest, but elsewhere they are surrounded by a rough country of lower mountains, with narrow, intervening agricultural valleys. Less than 10 per cent of this area is cleared. The clearings are few and small, and lie chiefly some miles distant from the crest of the ridge. The forests are chiefly of hard woods, with a large amount t0|„RVY^he<1for- of coniferous growth around the higher summits and in"'*'
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).