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CONDITIONS BY COUNTIES. 



Topography. 



The eastern line of tlie county follows the main range of the 

 Alleghany mountains and all the area lying east of the Green- 

 brier river is exceedingly mountainous except in the valleys of 

 the creeks. Westward from the Greenbrier there is a rich plateau 

 region lying high above the channel of ihe river and covering 

 much of the central, southern and western parts of the county 

 south of a west line from Falling Springs. The eastern part of 

 the plateau is undulating but not hilly, and the southern and 

 western parts are traversed by low ridges and furrowed by 

 numerous streams. North of the plateau region the surface is 

 broken into hundreds of high mountain peaks and ridges, many 

 of which reach an elevation of over 4,000 feet. 



The Greenbrier river, which flows south at the western base 

 of the Alleghany mountains, is the principal stream of the county. 

 Its largest eastern tributaries are Howards creek and Anthonys 

 creek. The streams that flow into it from the west are very small 

 and far between except in the extreme southern end where 

 Muddy creek drains an area west of Muddy Creek mountains. 

 Several creeks in the center of the limestone plateau disappear 

 into subterranean caverns. The western and northern mountain- 

 ous sections are drained by Meadow and Cherry rivers, both 

 tributaries of the Gauley. 



% , Original Forest Conditions. 



The county may be divided into 3 districts according to the 

 kinds of timber which each produced in greatest abundance. 

 First, in the mountainous section on the east of Greenbrier river, 

 white pine was the most valuable species. It grew in this county . 

 most abundantly on Anthonys creek and its tributaries. The fol- 

 lowing description of the white pine growing in Greenbrier and 

 Pocahontas is given by Mr. Cecil Clay, former president of the 

 St. Lawrence Boom and Manufacturing Company of Ronceverte : 



* ' There are several hundred million feet of good white pine 

 lumber in this district. The white pine growing as it does here 

 at an altitude of 2000 to 2500 feet, has a climate about like that 

 of lower Pennsylvania and has much likeness to Susquehanna 



