Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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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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  • 70 SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. Agriculture. Erosion. The forest. The greater portion of this area has been cleared, although mostly too steep to be arable. The hills are cleared for grazing, to which industry this land is better adapted than to agriculture, in view of the great erosion and the difficult}7 of maintaining roads in this remote and hilly region. Excellent crops of hay and grass are the rule on new land, and the custom is to crop and graze a clearing until it wears out, then clear a new field. Many of the old hill fields are now worn out by close pasturing and by the erosion of unprotected humus, and are being gullied to the underlying rock by every shower. The forests of large area are limited to the higher altitudes on the isolated peaks between the North and South forks, and on Balsam and Iron mountains which form the northwestern rim of the plateau. On the southeastern slope of Balsam Mountain is an almost unbroken forest, approximately 5 miles square; but the long, narrow strip of woodland on Iron Mountain is considerably broken by clearings and burns, while the portions of Pond Mountain and White Top draining into New River have on them only remnants of the old forest. Scattered among the clearings of the valley are wood lots, left usually on ridges and north slopes. Composition.—The trees of these forests are principally oaks and chestnut, with a mixture of white pine, hemlock, black spruce, black gum, cherry, poplar, ash, cucumber, buckeye, linn, maple, birch, and many unimportant species. Altogether there are about 80 species of trees. Condition.—All the forest is inferior in condition, being either culled, fire scarred, or full of old and defective trees, while a dense undergrowth usually covers the steep slopes. The condition of these neglected forests would improve readily under forestry, as valuable species are abundant and reproduce easily and grow rapidly wherever they have an opportunity. The outlying isolated wood lots, surrounded by cleared land and held by thoughtful farmers, are noticeably in better condition than the larger wild areas in the remote mountains. SOUTH FORK OF HOLSTON RIVER (SOUTHERN TRIBUTARY BASINS ONLY). [233,000 acres; 80 per cent wooded.] Topography. This area comprises the northern slope of the mountains between Watauga and New rivers, and is principally a long, narrow strip of steep mountain side, having a north-
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).