WEST VIRGINIA 



6254 



WEST VIRGINIA 



mean annual temperature at Morgantown is 54. 

 The annual rainfall averages about forty-five 

 inchc-, anl is even-where sufficient for agricul- 

 ture and for luxuriant vegetation. The cool, 

 invigorating summers, the numerous mineral 

 springs and the beautiful scenery have made 

 the mountainous regions popular as health and 

 pleasure resorts; White Sulphur Springs, in 

 Greenbrier County, is one of America's famous 

 watering j>! 



Agriculture. In spite of West Virginia's 

 rough surface and dense forests, considerable 

 [way \i:\> been made in agriculture. Over 

 one-half of the farm area, which covers about 

 sixty per cent of the state, is improved. The 

 fertile valley in the northeast and the Ohio 

 valley are the chief farming sections. 



Corn is grown in every county and is by far 

 the most important crop, the annual production 

 -ding 25,000,000 bushels. Hay, especially 

 timothy, and wheat, potatoes, oats, tobacco, 

 buckwheat and rye are other leading crops. 

 Market gardening is profitable along the Ohio 

 River near the large industrial centers and in 

 the bottoms of other western streams, and large 

 quantities of vegetables and small fruits are 

 grown. Sugar crops, including sorghum cane 

 and beet sugar, are raised, and the culture of 

 flowers, plants and nursery products is impor- 

 tant. Orchards are especially productive in the 

 eastern and northern panhandle sections. The 

 is famous as the home of the Grimes' 

 Golden apple, -and nine-tenths of the value of 

 orchard crops is the income from apples; 

 peaches are grown with much success and con- 

 stitute most of the remaining value of orchard 

 fruits. The grassy slopes of the mountains and 

 hills furnish pasture land for live stock, and in 

 the blue-grass regions of the southeastern coun- 

 ties dairy farming is important. 



Forests. The state was formerly a vast pri- 

 meval forest, penetrated only by the streams 

 and Indian trails. About seventy per cent of 

 the area still remains virgin woodland. The 

 higher mountains are clothed with white pine, 

 hemlock and spruce, and the lower slopes are 

 covered with dense forests of oak, chestnut, 

 hickory, cherry, poplar, sycamore, elm and 

 other trees. Oak is the principal timber prod- 

 uct, and in chestnut and cherry the state sur- 

 passes all others in the Union. 



Mining. West Virginia is next to Pennsyl- 

 vania in the value of mineral products. The 

 coal fields cover an area of 17,280 square miles, 

 which is 1,480 square miles greater than the 

 area of the Pennsylvania fields, and have an 



estimated available supply of over 150,300,000,- 

 000 tons. However, the coal-mining industry in 

 West Virginia is still in its infancy, and the 

 annual output is surpassed by that of Penn- 

 sylvania. The production has increased each 

 year, and now amounts to more than 90,000,000 

 tons annually. Over 78,000 miners are em- 

 ployed in the coal mines, and new areas are 

 constantly being opened. The coal is obtained 

 chiefly by drift mining, that is, it is reached by 

 an opening in the mountain side rather than by 

 deep shafts. 



The state also possesses extensive gas and oil 

 fields. It is not surpassed among the states in 

 the output of natural gas, its annual production 

 exceeding $35,000,000 in value. The largest 

 gas-purnping station in the world is located at 

 Hastings, in Wetzel County, and all the princi- 

 pal towns west of the Alleghanies, including 

 many industrial centers in Ohio and Pennsyl- 

 vania, are supplied with this fuel. The oil pro- 

 duction, which exceeded 11,750,000 barrels in 

 1910, decreased to about 9,100,000 barrels in 

 1915, giving the state sixth place among the oil- 

 producing states. 



Other important mineral products are clays, 

 glass sands, limestone, sandstone and marble; 

 salt brines and brown iron ore are obtained in 

 small quantities. 



Manufactures. In a state so abundantly 

 supplied with coal and natural gas, the great 

 fuels of the world, and with such a large 

 amount of available water power, the manu- 

 facturing industries are destined to become 

 great interests. The manufacture of lumber 

 and timber products, in the output of which 

 West Virginia ranks tenth among the states in 

 -the Union, is the chief manufacturing industry. 

 Second in importance is the iron and steel 

 industry, which centers at Wheeling, the chief 

 manufacturing city. The plentiful supply of 

 oak and hemlock bark has encouraged the es- 

 tablishment of large tanneries, and in the out- 

 put of tanned leather products the state ranks 

 ninth in the Union. In the manufacture of tin 

 plate and terneplate West Virginia is surpassed 

 only by Pennsylvania. The state also ranks 

 high in the manufacture of glass, large plants 

 being located at Wheeling, Morgantown, 

 Clarksburg and Buckhannon. Associated with 

 the natural-gas industry is the manufacture of 

 lampblack and bone carbon, in which West 

 Virginia holds first place among the states. It 

 holds second rank in the output of galvanized 

 ware and iron and steel pipe, and is third in 

 the production of coke. There are various 



