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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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  • 76 SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. In forest conditions there is also great variety, dependent largely upon the prevalence of fire. Fires are freely set during autumn, winter, and spring, and great injury to timber, forest seedlings, and soil results. A large proportion of the timber trees are defective, and much of the woodland area is imperfectly stocked. The reproduction of trees is remarkably vigorous on cuttings, burns, and old fields, and growth is rapid. The prevention of fire and the application of improvement cuttings would wonderfully increase the value of the forest, which is the great natural resource of the mountainous portion of this basin. FRENCH BROAD RIVER BASIN (NORTH OF SKYLAND). [555,840 acres; 51 per cent in forest, besides wood lots.*] lopography. This long and wide crescent-shaped valley heads on the Blue Ridge, which it drains from Swannanoa Gap to Panther Tail Mountain (62 miles) and reaches entirely across the highlands, which it leaves near the Tennessee line, about 80 miles from its source. Around the borders of this basin are the Craggy Mountains, Swannanoa Mountains, and Estatoe, Panther Tail, Pizgah, and Max Patch peaks, all high, forest-covered mountains. In Madison County, where the river has cut through the northwestern riin of the region, is a large area of broken, mountainous ridges, with very steep and rocky slopes. A great portion of the interior basin, however, is smooth enough and fertile enough for grazing or farming. son. The soil is extremely variable, though in general very good. That of the lower hills is a red clay, a fine sedimentary deposit. It is fertile and recuperates readily, but erodes rapidly when uncovered. The ridge land, as usual, is well adapted to grass, but if closely pastured erodes rapidly and soon becomes worthless. The best soil is found in the coves and on the broad alluvial bottoms which border the river and its larger tributaries from the Blue Ridge in the southeast to the head of the gorge near Marshall. Agriculture. Substantially all the lowland is occupied by farmers, and many of the plantations are very productive and well adapted to mixed farming. This is, in ract, one of the best agricultural valleys to be found in the East. The principal difficulties to be met are erosion of surface soil * These wood lots are small and scattered so as to make it difficult to estimate their aggregate area.
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).