[28] 



The general features of the forests of the two states have been 

 thus described:* "The forests of Virginia, like those of the 

 Carolinas and Georgia, fall naturally into three divisions, de- 

 pendent upon the elevation and soil of the different parts of the 

 state. The mountains and ridges of its western border are 

 covered with a heavy growth of pine, hemlock, white oak, 

 cherry,! yellow poplar, and other northern trees ; over the re- 

 gion extending east of the mountains oaks, principally black 

 oaks, once formed the prevailing forest growth ; through these 

 are now mingled long stretches of various pitch pines, occupying 

 exhausted and barren soil once devoted to agriculture. 



The eastern counties are covered with the forests of the Mari- 

 time Pine belt, generally confined to the Tertiary deposits of the 

 coast and extending inland to the head of tide-water of the prin- 

 cipal streams ; along the western borders of this pine belt the 

 forest growth is nearly equally divided between the pines and the 

 broad-leaved species. The inaccessible mountain region in the 

 south-western part of the state still contains immense quantities of 

 the original oak, hickory, walnut, and cherry, the scanty pop- 

 ulation of these mountains having made but sliglit inroads upon 

 the forests." 



" The forests of West Virginia,! with the exception of the 

 belt of pine and spruce§ confined to the high ridges of the Alle- 

 ghany mountains are principally composed of broad-leaved trees, 

 the most important of which are the white and chestnut oaks, 

 the black walnut, the yellow poplar and the cherry. The white 

 pine and spruce forests reach within the state their southern 

 limit as important sources of lumber supply. 



The forests have been largely removed from the counties bor- 

 dering the Ohio river, and the most valuable hard wood timber, 

 adjacent to the principle streams, especially black walnut, cherry 

 and yellow poplar, has been culled in nearly every part of the 

 State. But slight inroads, liowever, have yet been made into the 

 magnificent body of hard wood timber covering the extreme 



•Tenth census of the U. S -1880 Vol. IX. Forest trees of North America, p. 

 511. 



^Pruniis scrotina. 



JTenth Census. Vol. IX, p. 511. 



%Picea nigra. 



