Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

Report of the Secretary of Agriculture in relation to the forests, rivers, and mountains of the southern Appalachian region

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  • 132 SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. abundant water power furnished by the various streams. These are, as a rule, of small capacity, from 500 to 1,000 feet per day, and do mainly the custom sawing for the region near by. In addition to these there are numerous small sawmills, owned for the most part by some firm holding extensive tracts of forest, and these are moved from place to place as the near-by timber becomes nearly exhausted. In any case the effect of the sawmill on the forests is the same. All the trees available for use in any manner are cut into plank, and the careless methods destroy the greater part of the young growth, which would otherwise in course of time replenish the supply. The logs when cut are " snaked " downhill by mule team, soon cutting a deep channel in the earth, which the waters from the first rain storm turn into a yawning gully that rapidly spreads in extent. (See PI. LIII.) The tops and those parts of the trunk unsuitable for lumber are left on the ground to furnish fuel for the first fire or a breeding place for insects destructive to tree life. ti™reSforesttan"- ^n addition to the lumbering operations, the tan-bark h,lrk- industry is making great inroads on forest growth. Every year thousands of cords of bark are stripped in these mountains, and each load means that some giant of the forest has been felled and lies useless, for the trunks are rarely used for timber, the expense of transporting them to the mills from the high mountain slopes being in most cast>s prohibitive. instructi ve But great as is the work of the lumberman in this forest work of fores) lires- destruction, his part has m the past been small when com pared with that of the forest fire and that of the farmer in clearing land for agricultural purposes. Forest fires have been one of the great curses in the southern Appalachians as truly as elsewhere in the country. They were common in the days of Indian occupation. Thus, they have preceded the lumberman, but they have also accompanied him and followed in his wake. Their work has been rendered far more destructive because the lumberman has left his brush scattered among the remaining growth in such way that in the burning it has fed the fire. In some regions these tires have destroyed the forests entirely. Especially has this been the case where the soil has been thin and composed largely of humus. The tire has destroyed this humus and the remaining soil has soon washed away, leaving the trees on the bare surface of rock,
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).