166 



CONDITIONS BY COUNTIES. 



Present Forest Conditions. 



All the land of the county — of which at least 80 per cent is 

 cleared — is owned and occupied by farmers. The woodland is 

 chiefly in scattered second growth woodlots. Some farmers, par- 

 ticularly those in Ripley and Washington districts, have areas of 

 75 to 300 acres of practically virgin forest. A few of those hold- 

 ing the larger areas of this kind are J. L. Starcher, 150 acres ; J. 

 H. G. Winters, 150 acres; L. D. Parsons, 250 acres; E. Thomas, 

 150 acres; G. W. Anderson, 100 acres; Alice Rogers, 300 acres. 

 There are many smaller woodlots containing good timber, but 

 those with second growth and inferior, stands predominate. 



JEFFERSON COUNTY. 



Location and Area. 



Jefferson county was formed from part of Berkeley in the 

 year 1801. It is the easternmost county in West Virginia and is 

 bounded on the north by Maryland, on the east and south by Vir- 

 ginia, and on the west by Berkeley county. The area is 213 square 

 miles or 136,320 acres. 



Topography. 



This county lies in the valley of the Potomac and the Shen- 

 andoah rivers and has a rolling surface throughout its entire ex- 

 tent, except in the southeast where the Blue Ridge mountains 

 rise abruptly from the east bank of the Shenandoah. The eastern 

 line touches the highest point in the county and the lowest point 

 ia the state ; namely, 1,600 feet on the Blue Ridge, and 260 feet 

 a short distance below the junction of the Potomac and Shenan- 

 doah rivers. 



The area is amply supplied with drainage by the Potomac 

 and the Shenandoah rivers, the former flowing at the north, and 

 the latter at the western base of the Blue Ridge on the east. Lucas 

 run empties into the Potomac about 3 miles below Shepherdstown, 



