278 



CONDITIONS BY COUNTIES. 



more and Ohio railroad. Bush continued to operate as his pre- 

 decessor had done, getting his logs from lands high up on the 

 Tygarts Valley river, until the mill was about worn out and the 

 timber supply exhausted. 



Capt. G. W. Curtin built a large band mill at Grafton and 

 operated it for several years about 25 years ago. His supply of 

 logs came chiefly from points on the Tygarts Valley river above 

 the boundaries of Taylor county. 



C. G. Blatchley operated a pump factory and planing mill 

 for many years at Grafton. 



Numerous portable saw mills have been operating in the 

 county for 30 years. There are about 25 small mills still run- 

 ning irregularly — a sufficient number to cut every good tree 

 left in this small county within the next 5 years. 



The Present Forest Conditions. 



Farmers own all the land of the county, and the forest land 

 remaining is in scattered woodlots. In some sections at least 75 

 per cent of the land is cleared. This is true in the best agri- 

 cultural areas adjoining Harrison and Barbour counties. In 

 other sections the percentage of cleared land is much smaller, 

 and here the farmers have reserved considerable good timber. 

 Many woodlots, it is said, have 5,000 feet per acre of sound oak, 

 hickory, and other timber, still standing on them. 



TUCKER COUNTY. 



Location and Area. 



Tucker county, formed from part of Randolph in 1856, 

 lies south of Preston, east of Barbour, and west of Grant county. 

 Its area is 440 square miles or 281,600 acres. 



Topography. 



The whole area of the county is included within the boun- 

 dary of that part of the Appalachian Province known as the Al- 

 leghany Highland and lies between the crests of Canaan and 

 Alleghany mountains on the east and the northern portion of 

 Laurel ridge on the west. Some 2 miles southward from the 

 point on the Alleghanies where the eastern boundary line turns 

 abruptly to the northwest and crosses the Stony river and Red 



