WEST VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



115 



extends into the county from Logan, and on the west part of a 

 10,000 acre tract on the head of Mud river lies inside the Boone 

 line. 



At least four fifths of all the woodland still contains some 

 merchantable timber, of which the leading kind is oak. 



The farm land lies in almost continuous belts along the 

 principal streams and in small scattered patches among the 

 hills and mountains. Farms are more numerous in the northern 

 than in the southern end. Much of the rough, hilly land is un- 

 •fit for agriculture and the timber should be given the right of 

 way. 



The clearing of the narrow, sandy bottoms of the rivers 

 has materially affected the character of their channels. It is 

 stated by old residents of the county that both Big and Little 

 Coal rivers were one third narrower 40 years ago than they 

 are at present. Originally the water flowed over solid rock bot- 

 toms and at every turn there was a deep, clear pool of water 

 with shallows above and below. Now the deep places are full 

 of sand which has washed from cultivated fields and the stream 

 channels have been widened by the falling in of unprotected 

 banks. 



BAXTON COUNTY. 



Location and Area. 



Braxton county was formed in 1836 from parts of Lewis, 

 Kanawha and Nicholas. It is the central county of the State 

 and has an area of 541 square miles or 346,240 acres. 



Topography. 



The surface of the county is rendered irregular by high 

 hills and mountains and by narrow river valleys. The hilltops 

 and mountaintops reach elevations ranging from- about 1,000 

 feet in a small area in the north, to a little over 2,000 feet in 

 the south along the Webster and Nicholas lines. The summits 

 lie uniformly in nearly all sections at about 1,600 feet, being 



