WEST VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



153 



the local citizens as they needed it. The merchants also took 

 large numbers of white oak shingles "for trade". 



An active lumber industry, in which portable saw mills 

 figured prominently, began with the building of the branch 

 railroad before mentioned. Lumber from the portable mills 

 was hauled in wagons and shipped from Romney and other sta- 

 tions on the -branch or main line railroads. For the last 25 

 years there has been a constant drain upon the remaining for- 

 ests, and the extensive virgin areas have been reduced to com- 

 paratively small and isolated tracts. There are a fevv^ active 

 lumber operations at present in the county. Most of the ov/ners 

 of saw mills, however, run their mills irregularly through the 

 winter and in the fall use their engines for threshing grain. 



Two firms located at Romney still ship large numbers of 

 cross-ties, but the trade in lumber has fallen off during recent 

 years. 



The Present Forest Conditions. 



The virgin forests of the county, which aggregate about 

 12,000 acres, lie principally toward the southern end and are 

 situated upon the mountains. A virgin forest of considerable 

 extent still remains upon the eastern face of South Branch 

 mountain a few miles south of Romney ; and there are other 

 large tracts on the northern end of Short mountain, and on 

 Great North mountain near the Virginia line. The cut-over 

 forests, aggregating about 15,000 acres, are in Bloomery dis- 

 trict in the northern end, on the western face of South Branch 

 mountain, and in smaller areas throughout the mountainous 

 parts of the county. 



Probably one-third of all the land is cleared. Romney dis- 

 trict is largely improved; Mill Creek, Springneld, and Gore 

 districts have scattered improvements ; Sherman and Capon dis- 

 tricts have numerous improvements at the bases of the moun- 

 tains, the farmers' woodlots often extending from their cleared 

 lands to the summits of the wooded mountains. Blooniery dis- 

 trict in the northeastern end, is roughest and least improved. 

 There are, perhaps, 50,000 acres of non-agricultural land in the 

 coujity covered with a growth of scrubby timber. It should be 



