WEST VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



247 



fires which frequently rage along the Coal and Iron railroad and 

 in other sections. 



According to William T. Price, author of "Historical 

 Sketches of Pocahontas County," "The climate of this county 

 has passed through a great change in the past 80 or 90 years. 

 It was once a rare thing for corn to ripen anywhere in the re- 

 gion, and in planting it was the intention merely to have soft 

 corn for use in fattening beef or pork in case the mast failed. ' ' 

 In these days, since a considerable area of land has been cleared 

 and cultivated during a long period of time, fine crops of corn 

 and other grains are matured in every farming community. 



Cranberry Glades. 



The high region covering the western part oi Pocahontas 

 county, drained by hundreds of clear mountain brooks that flow 

 into the Cranberry, the Williams, the Gauley, and the Elk rivers, 

 was once known as the "Wilderness" or the "Wilds of Poca- 

 hontas," a region until recently overgrown with a dense, un- 

 disturbed forest and abounding in game of many kinds. Here, ' 

 in the midst of the "Wilderness" and on the border of the 

 greatest forest remaining in the state, are the Cranberry Glades 

 near the head of Cranberry river. 



There is, in reality, only one glade, containing from 250 to 

 300 acres of deep, wet soil overgrown in some places with a 

 thicket of shrubbery and in others carpeted with lichens, mosses, 

 and sedge's. Within the glade there are 5 open spaces the names 

 and areas of which are given below : 



Big Glade 56 acres. 



Flag Glade 20 acres. 



Long Glade 14 acres. 



Round Glade 8 acres . 



Little Glade 2 acres. 



Each open area is separated from the others by winding* 

 and sluggish streams which are bordered by fringes of alder, 

 hollies and other shrubs. 



There is, perhaps, no area of equal extent in West Virginia 

 which is of greater importance for its influence on water flow, 



