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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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  • 72 SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. The steep slopes west of Damascus and east of Como Gap are in a very inferior forest condition, owing largely to the long-continued prevalence of fires, which have not only prevented a vigorous growth, but have even driven out the most valuable species. The trees of the ridges and north slopes are short and crooked, and as a rule the land is very imperfectly stocked and also very brushy. The forests of some of the tributary basins are in excellent condition, having more moisture and better soil and having been less injured by fire. Except on the driest portions, lands cut or burned over are quickly restocked with valuable species, while the dry ridges and summits are soon occupied by chestnut and oak sprouts or by black pine, gum, sourwood. or trees of similar value. Prevention of fire and judicious thinning would soon develop a valuable forest on these northern slopes, where now there is very little material that is marketable. WATAUGA RIVER BASIN. [441,000 acres; 66 per cent wooded.] Topography. This basin, tributary to the Holston, lies almost entirely within the Appalachian mountain region. The main source of the river is on Grandfather Mountain, a prominent peak of the Blue Ridge, while the last mountain gorge is passed near Elizabethton, Tenn., where the river leaves the mountains. The highest points of this basin are Holston Mountain, 4,300 feet; Snake Mountain, 5,594 feet; Rich Mountain, 5,369 feet; Grandfather Mountain, 5,964 feet; Beech Mountain, 5,222 feet; Yellow Mountain, 5,600 feet; Roan Mountain, 6,313 feet, and Ripshin Mountain, 4,800 feet. These are on the borders. The interior portion is broken into manj' subordinate ridges, reaching an altitude of 3,000 to 4,000 feet, with deep, narrow valleys eroded down to an altitude of 3,000 to 2,000 feet. ' Derived directly from granite, gneiss, and schist, by decomposition, the soil of the mountains and ridges has been fertile, much of it very fertile loam of excellent physical as well as chemical composition. Washing, however, has carried much of the desirable material down to the valleys and left the soil of the ridges inferior, especially on southward slopes. The valley soil is of two general classes, (1) the red clayey loam of the lower foothills and (2) alluvial bottom land, some of which is too Soil.
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).