128 



CONDITIONS BY COUNTIES. 



westerly direction for 50 miles through the county, falling about 

 100 feet in that distance. The stream is remarkable on account 

 of its beauty and unusual state of preservation. Its water is 

 kept constant and pure by the large coniferous and hardwood 

 forests out from which it flows in Webster, Randolph and Po- 

 cahontas counties. The hillsides facing the river and its tribu- 

 taries in Clay county are, for the most part, too rocky and steep 

 for cultivation and so have remained in forest to the present 

 time. In many places the hills rise abruptly from the water's 

 edge and, in no place, are the bottoms wide enough to encourage 

 extensive farming. These conditions, as well as those that exist 

 at the river's head, have contributed to the preservation of the 

 stream. 



Former and Present Forest Conditions,, 



The former forest conditions in the county can be known by 

 a study of the virgin areas yet remaining. A representative 

 boundary of 15,000 acres was found to contain, approximately, 

 100 million feet, board measure, of the following species of tim- 



ber : 



Oak, — principally White Oak^ — 40 per cent. 



Poplar 20 



Beech 10 



Hickory 5 " " 



Hemlock 5 



Maples 5 



Basswood 3 



Cucumber 2 '* 



White Ash 2 



Birch 2 



Chestnut 3 " 



Black Walnut \ 



Black Gum / 



Locust / 



Buckeye, and others ) 



The only parts of the county which have not produced good 

 timber in great abundance are the thin and rocky southern ex- 



