132 
small nursery, with thesproceeds of which he supported his family. He is now worth not less 
than $3,000, made from the proceeds of his orchard and vineyard. 
WEST VIRGINIA. 
1. Unlike Virginia, and the other States in the south in which the involun- 
tary labor system existed, West Virginia shows an increase in the value of 
lands since 1860 amounting to an average of 32 per cent. There is some 
difference in this appreciation in different parts of the State, the Pan Handle and 
Ohio river counties being generally above the average. Hancock, Tyler, 
Webster and Wood, are placed at 50 per cent. Nicholas, Grant, Cabell and 
Mineral, are the only counties returned at rates less than those of 1860. Dur- 
ing the oil excitement in Wood and adjacent counties, prices of farm lands were 
at least 100 per cent. higher than in 1860. While the actual product of oil has 
been increased since 1865, wild speculation has subsided, and lands in this 
vicinity, except those known to be oil bearing, now average about five per cent. 
increase over prices of the period first mentioned. 
2. In the Pan Handle counties wild land is unknown. All is included in 
farms, and timber reservations are generally occupied as sheep pastures, the 
underbrush being kept clear. These ‘woods pastures” are often quite valuable 
adjuncts to the arable portion of the farms. The unimproved land, or wood- 
land, of Harrison, is held at $20 per acre. The soil, abounding in lime and 
clay, “will produce anything.” The location of this county is central, with a 
railroad passing through it. Unimproved tracts in Wood county are placed at 
$6 per acre. ‘The assessment of 1866 made the average over $9. In Marshall, 
on the Ohio, below Wheeling, unimproved lands are worth from $6 to $25 per 
acre ; the growth is various and valuable, and the soil productive. Iron ore and 
coal also abound here. The average price of unimproved lands in Kanawha is 
$5 per acre. The surface is generally uneven, often declivitous, but the soil is 
rich and suitable for all farm products, and particularly for fruits. In Mason, 
hill lands are worth from $8 to $L0’per acre; soil, clay, slightly impregnated 
with lime, productive in grasses, especially blue grass, which springs up spontane- ~ 
ously when the land is cleared. In Jefferson, the quantity of unimproved Jand 
in 1860 was 24,384, and it may now be put down in round numbers at 20,000, 
worth $6 per acre. It consists principally of land lying along the western slope 
of the Blue Ridge mountain, valuable for its timber, much of which is chéstnut. 
Unimproved lands in Tyler are valued at $6 per acre, in Barbour $2 to $5; in 
Randolph $3, adapted to grass and grain; in Nicholas $2, in Cabell $2, suitable 
for grazing and fruit growing; in Grant $1, good for sheep pasture and timber; 
in Webster 75 cents, and in Wyoming 50 cents, valuable for grape culture and 
wool growing. 
3. The mineral resources of West Virginia are too well known for particular 
comment. Nearly all of the counties in the State contain coal, iron and other 
minerals; coal in veins suitable for working is found in greatest abundance 
along the banks of the upper Ohio, in the hills along the course of the Monon- 
gahela and its branches, in the ceutral counties of the State, in the Piedmont 
region east of the summit, in the Kanawha valley, and in all the counties south 
of thatriver. The coal lands of Guyandotte, being bituminous, cannel and splint 
varieties, cover nine-tenths of the Guyandotte valley, in horizontal strata in the 
hills, from 3 to 11 feet thick, aggregating in some hills 25 or 30 feet. Coal 
mining in Kanawha is represented as paying well. The inducement for employ- 
ing capital under practical supervision is claimed to be very flattering, while 
complaint is made of the visionary character of recent coal and oil operations. 
Of Brooke our correspondent says : 
The most valuable mineral, however, is bituminous coal, accessible by level adits over the 
ereater part of the county. The stratum is four to five feet thick. In the hill fronting on 
the Ohio river it is about 200 feet above the river level, and the coal is let down by railways 
