WEST VIRGINIA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



319 



hickory, beech, birch, locust, buckeye, black gum, sycamore, 

 wild cherry, pitch pine, and others of less value. The excellent 

 quality of poplar, hemlock, cucumber, bass wood and walnut 

 should be mentioned. The quantity of black walnut was not 

 large, but on Clear fork and Big Huff creek, it grew in consider- 

 able abundance and was often figured. The oaks, white oak, 

 red oak, black oak, chestnut oak and scarlet oak^ were abundant, 

 particularly white oak, but were more or less inferior in quality. 



The Lumber Industry. 



Except for a little rafting on the lower waters of the Guy- 

 andot no timber was taken out before 1890. All that was manu- 

 factured on whip saws and small mills prior to that date was 

 used for domestic purposes. All the logs and lumber so far 

 taken out have been floated down the Guyandot river, hauled 

 on wagons to the Norfolk and Western railroad in McDowell 

 county, or shipped over the Virginian railroad which has re- 

 cently tapped the extensive forests in the eastern end of the 

 county. 



Floating on the Guyandot. 



Extensive floating began about 18 years ago and is still 

 carried on. The Little Kanawha Lumber Company floated 

 poplar, ash, cucumber and basswood logs and manufactured 

 them into lumber on their mill at Portsmouth, Ohio. This com- 

 pany operated for about 7 years. The Yellow Poplar Lumber 

 Company also floated timber of the same kinds and manufac- 

 tured it at Coal Grove, Ohio. H. Gordon floated poplar, ash, 

 cucumber, basswood and black walnut logs to Huntington, West 

 Virginia, and manufactured them there. The Ohio Falls Car 

 Company floated poplar timber to their works at Jeffersomdlle, 

 Indiana. M. Goble floated poplar, also, and sold it on the 

 market. All these companies and individuals named above 

 began floating about the year 1892 and ceased operations from 

 1896 to 1899. C. Crane and Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, com- 

 menced floating on the Guyandot and its larger tributaries in 

 1 896 but did not operate actively until 4 years later. Since then 



