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CONDITIONS BY COUNTIES. 



The Lumber Industry. 



Small, portable saw mills have cut practically all of the 

 timber of the Patterson creek basin that has been removed up 

 to the present time, excepting that which was destroyed by 

 farmers during the period of early settlement. The timber of 

 the mountainous sections escaped most of the destruction by 

 early settlers. The large area of virgin forest in these sections 

 was not entered by lumbermen to any extent until after the 

 building of the Western Maryland railroad, in about 1885, along 

 the North Branch of Potomac. After the forests of the western 

 part of the county became accessible a great many large mills 

 were put in operation. Some of these that have now gone were 

 the Watson Company at Barnum, Hench, Dromjold and Shull 

 at Shaw, Billmyre at the mouth of Stony river, and the Whit- 

 mers at Emory. There were other large mills located at Atlan- 

 tic, Harriman and other points, and numerous smaller ones 

 were operated in the interior. 



At present, there are about 20 saw mills running, many of 

 which are small and saw irregularly. Traction engines, used 

 in many of the smaller operations, are frequently put on the 

 road for hauling lumber, cross-ties and tan-bark to the railroad. 



Present Forest Conditions. 



There are now no virgin forest areas in the county except 

 those that are of very small size. The cut-over lands, scattered 

 along the North Branch and on the mountain ridges, have a 

 combined area of about 7,000 acres. The percentage of wood- 

 land in Welton, Cabin Creek and Frankfo:rt districts is very 

 low; but in Elk, New Creek and Piedmont, there is a high per- 

 centage of timberland, most of which has been closely culled 

 and burned. Some of the best timber that now remains is to 

 be found in the farmers' woodlots. 



