WISE COUNTY. 517 



while others are a dark chocolate, with the subsoil only a short distance from 

 the surface. These sandy lands are partly made from the detritus from the 

 Trinity Sands, which are found along the entire eastern part of the county. 



TIMBER. 



The western part of this county is in the "Upper Cross Timbers." The 

 timber is about the same as found in all the counties belonging to this strip 

 of country. Along the Trinity River and some of the lateral streams some 

 of the timbers, such as pecan, overcup and water oak, grow to a large size. 

 The timber on the uplands is short and scrubby, but in sufficient quantity to 

 supply the demand for domestic purposes. There is only one thing about 

 this timber that is a matter of surprise to persons acquainted only with 

 scrubby timber in other States, that is the ease with which it can be split. 

 There it is invariably tough and hard to split, but here the most knotty, 

 snarly tree to be found can be split almost like cedar. 



The timber is large enough to make props for coal mining purposes, and for 

 railroad ties, as well as fence posts. 



WATER. 



Water can be found everywhere in shallow wells. Stock water is fur- 

 nished by the river and creeks. Only at a few places in the county has it 

 been found necessary to build tanks for watering stock. 



No deep wells have been put down to test the possibility of flowing water, 

 as the surface water has always proven sufficient for all purposes. It is doubt- 

 ful if flowing water could be obtained here, as the eastern part of the county 

 (the Trinity Sands) is the source or bed in which the artesian water is ob- 

 tained at localities eastward from this county. 



A few good springs have been found in different parts of the county. The 

 general reliance for water is on shallow wells, in which abundance of water 

 has always been found. 



BUILDING MATERIAL. 



The Carboniferous sandstones to be found along the western part of the 

 county are of the same character as the Carboniferous sandstones found in 

 other parts of the State. G-ood quarries could be opened in the vicinity of 

 Bridgeport, but there has been no demand for such material outside of a few 

 persons in the neighborhood for building chimneys — and for that purpose 

 the outside stones that had been weathered out were used — and no quarry has 

 been opened. 



There are in the western edge of the county heavy beds of limestone that 

 41— geol. 



