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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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  • 90 SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. YADKIN RIVER BASIN. [253,120 acres; 54 per cent wooded.] Topography. The portion of the basin of this river examined includes the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge, with its outlyers from Bullhead Mountain southward to Blowing Rock, and is drained by the head streams of the Yadkin and all of its northern tributaries eastward to and including Roaring River. The crest of the Blue Ridge, with an average elevation of more than 3,500 feet, limits the area on the north; and from this numerous sharp and steep spurs penetrate the area, dividing it into a series of narrow parallel northwest-and-southeast trending basins, from the southern ends of which the streams emerge and unite to form the Yadkin, at an elevation of about 1,000 feet. The topography is rough, the slopes of the ridges steep, and the intervening valleys narrow, showing unchecked natural erosion from a high plateau region to a lower base level, in a country with rock of varying hardness and an abundant rainfall. So11- The alluvial lands in the valleys are narrow strips or small bodies, seldom more than a few acres in extent, of dark, sandy-loam soils, rich in humus, and fertile, or occasionally of coarse sand and poor. The soils of the uplands, produced by the decomposition of slates, sandstones, and gneiss, are highly silicious and often coarse and poor. On north slopes and in the hollows accumulated mold adds to the fertility and checks the removal of the finer clayey particles, while the poverty of the naturally infertile south slopes is augmented by repeated fires which destroy the litter and facilitate the removal of the finer particles of the soil by the heavy rains. Agriculture. Corn is the staple crop, both on the alluvial lands and on the slopes at lower elevations; while corn, grass, and some apples are cultivated on the shady north slopes tit high elevations and in the deep, cool hollows that indent the face of the mountain. Some of the alluvial bottoms have been damaged by being washed and gullied by freshets, or by the deposit of coarse sand and gravel brought down from the mountains. Erosion. Many of the steep slopes, exposed to erosion by the naked cultivation required for corn, have been gullied to the bed rock, and their agricultural value is temporarily destroyed. Many such abandoned fields are being colonized by wind-
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).