WEST VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



215 



at 15 Miles Creek^ & recrossed the Potomac (having psissed it 

 abt. 3 Miles from the Springs before) to a tract of mine on the 

 Virginia side which I find exceedingly Rich, & must be very- 

 valuable. — the lower end of the Land is rich white oak in 

 places springey; and in the winter wet. — the upper part is ex- 

 ceedingly rich, and covered with walnut of considerable size 

 many of them."* 



The kinds and the abundance of timber were usually men- 

 tioned in early days, to indicate the value of the soil; but it 

 must be concluded that at least some value was placed by Wash- 

 ington on the timber itself, for he instructed "The Tenant not 

 to remove any of the Walnut timber from the Land; or to split 

 it into rails; as I should reserve that for my own use. — " 



From his intimate acquaintance with the forests of the 

 county for the past forty years Dr. William II. McCullough, of 

 Sleepy Creek, is able to give the following list of trees with 

 approximate percentages showing their former relative abund- 



-ance : 



Chestnut Oak 20 per cent. 



White Oak 20 per cent. 



Pines (including White, Pitch, 



Scrub, and Yellow Pine) 10 per cent. 



Black Oak ) 



Red Oak } 20 per cent. 



Chestnut 20 per cent. 



Others, (including Sugar Maple, Red 

 Maple, Locust, Hickory, White 

 Ash, Cherry. Hemlock, Basswood, 

 Black Gum, Black A¥alnut, Syca- 

 more) 10 per cent. 



The Lumber Industry and Timber Destruction. 



The rich bottom and cove land of the county was souglit 

 after and occupied at an early date and much of the best tim- 

 ber destroyed before it had a merchantable value. 



It cannot now be ascertained when the first water-power 

 saw mills operated nor what were the names of their owners. 



*"Washington and The West" p. 37. 



