60 



lu some places great cracks extending for several hundreds of feet wei'e 

 formed in the earth, and the soil moved a few feet only. In other places 

 hundreds of tons of soil broke away to the depth of from three to five or 

 six feot, and moved to more gentle slopes below, leaving a great tangle of 

 soil. i-oot>;, ))ranches and tninks of small trees in huge mounds. Valuable 

 tobacco or other lands were rendered unfit for cultivation, or road»vays 

 were so completely covered that the use of dynamite alone could remove 

 the material and open the roads foi- traffic. 



Slide Covering (Jne- half Acre on a Slope Covered with Growlli of Small Trees. 



In other cases the slides began well up the slopes and continued to the 

 bottom of the vaUey, carrying hundreds of tons of rocks, soil, and vege- 

 table debris. The slides were fully as frequent on the forested slopes 

 where the larger trees had been removed, and only shrubs and small trees 

 remained, as on the hillsides covered with blue grass. In a few cases it 

 was noticed that a black walnut or a white oak, although not more than 

 a foot in diameter, was able to hold the soil even in the midst of a com- 

 liaratively large laiidslidc. The large tap r<»ots of tliese trees extendeti far 



