WEST VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



227 



berland, 138,000 acres are virgin and 2,000 acres are cut over. 

 The virgin forests lie on the mountains in more or less continu- 

 * ous broad belts running from northeast to southwest, and in 

 smaller boundaries scattered here and tli^re. The cut-over 

 forests are principally on the west of Spruce mountain. The 

 sawing by small mills has been on lands that were soon to be 

 ''improved." This accounts for the absence of cut-over forests 

 in the central and eastern sections. In addition to the above 

 mentioned forest lands about 60 per cent of the farm land is 

 growing well-timbered woodlots. 



As stated under another head, many of the mature pines 

 were killed in 1891 and 1892 by insects. In some localities 

 where this destruction occurred there is a good reproduction 

 of young pines \ but in most cases, especially where the destruc- 

 tion of seed trees was complete, a young hardwood forest is 

 growing up among the decaying pine logs. The appearance of 

 hardwoods to succeed the conifers is not discouraging as the 

 young trees are of valuable kinds. Locust, in particular, is 

 abundant in places and is remarkably free from the enemies 

 that disturb its growth in many other parts of the state. 



From many standpoints the conditions in most sections of 

 the county are ideal. The rich valleys produce abundant yields 

 of vegetables, and fruits and grains, and the forest-covered 

 mountains insure a constant flow of clear and unpolluted water. 

 Over a large area in the western part, however, conditions are 

 somewhat reversed. As a result of a disastrous forest fire which 

 originated 50 years ago from a camp of scouts on the Roaring 

 Plains, it is said, and of many subsequent fires, about 20,000 

 acres of mountaia land are burned bare. 



Spruce Knob. 



The highest land in the state, 4,860 feet above tide, is 

 found on a long, flat-topped ridge lying in the western part of 

 Pendleton county and known as Spruce mountain. The crest 

 of the mountain, for a little more than 10 miles, lies above 4,500 

 feet, and for half that distance, is 200 feet higher. Toward 

 the southern end there is a gradual rise to the highest point. 

 Spruce Knob, as this is called, is a misnomer for the reason that 



