528 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



The promises of wealth which the oil regions had made, and which now 

 Bcemed about to be realized, were forgotten. Prince]}' fortunes lost their 

 charms when an imperilled country called her sons to her defence, and now 

 those who but recently came to these localities to pursue the avocations of 

 peace, departed to practice the arts of war. 



Operations on any extensive scale were now impracticable ; and even if splen- 

 did results had not been impossible on account of a scarcity of laborers, the 

 Diurderous raids of guerillas would have completed what the other begun. A 

 few Avho remained and endeavored to perpetuate what had been so well com- 

 menced labored on, notwithstanding the new difficulties. Yet the predatory 

 incursions of guerilla bands made any large shipments of oil almost impossible. 

 Nevertheless, despite all the obstacles thus interposed, and which were under- 

 stood fully only by those who have been compelled to contend against them, 

 there was produced at the one point of Burning Spring alone, in the year 1861, 

 four million gallons of oil. In the year 1862 three millions two hundred thou- 

 sand gallons were sent to market from this same point. The product of 1863 

 does not, probably, exceed two millions of gallons. 



When, however, it is remembered that this large amount of oil was produced 

 in one section alone of not over one mile sqiiare, and under ciixunistances the 

 most unfavorable to production, the reader may form some idea of Avhat might 

 be done under circumstances that would deserve to be called auspicious. 



It must not be supposed that in estimating the oil interest of West Virginia 

 the small tract or point just named embraces the entire oil-producing dis- 

 trict of the State. Explorations made for the discovery of oil in West Vir- 

 ginia, it must be remembered, had only begun three years since. The force of 

 circumstances concentrated the efforts of explorers in the territory around this 

 district. Oil was first discovered here in abundant quantities. People natu- 

 rally flocked to this point, and before curiosity and investigation had been able 

 to exhaust the objects of attraction here, and turn to search for new fields, the 

 so-called secession of Virginia, with all its baneful evils, fell like a blight upon 

 the land. While the supply from this district was diminished to some extent, 

 other regions, unexplored, some of which are now proving as productive, re- 

 mained untouched. 



These territories, from which enterprise was banished by the war, remained, 

 with all their mineral and oleaginous wealth, unrevealed, quietly awaiting the 

 time when, without the din and perils of war, the men of toil could enter tlie 

 subterraneous chambers and bring forth their treasures to the world. This 

 period has at last arrived. Steadily the rebellious forces have been pushed 

 and driven back until this portion of West Virginia, at least, can be said to be 

 entirely free from them. Men begin to feel again that they are safe and secure 

 under the old government, and with this feeling comes the revival of business. 

 But few days have elapsed since the development of an entirely new oil dis- 

 trict. A few months since Messrs. J. B. Blair & Co. began operating on Bull 

 creek, and at the depth of 250 feet, on the 16th of this month, (March,) they 

 struck, a vein of oil which has continued flowing at the rate of a thousand bar- 

 rels of oil per day since. A curious fact connected with the oil-beds here is 

 the following : Commencing at Burning Spring, on the Kanawha river, we 

 trace a belt or upheaving of the rock, causing a vein of rock some 20 feet in 

 width to stand perpendicular on its edge, and running north one degree east, 

 crossing Ilughes river at the oil wells already spoken of; also crossing the 

 railroad near the oil wells of Hazlet & Co., and crossing Bull creek at the 

 wells first spoken of, Messrs. J. B. Blair & Co.'s ; thence on and crossing the 

 Ohio river, the oil district appearing to follow this upheaving, or rather this 

 upheaving appearing to designate where oil exists. All along this line may 

 be found gas or burning springs. As these gas springs are an excellent indi- 

 cation of oil, it may be safely said that oil wiB be discovered the entire length 



