WASHINGTON COUNTY. 



Washington is one of the four mountain counties of the State, and 

 lies in three different physiographic divisions. The western section 

 forms a part of the Appalachians ; the central lies in the Hagerstown 

 Valley ; while the eastern half is included in the Blue Ridge Moun- 

 tains. The suface and soil conditions are in consequence variable. 



To Washington County attaches the distinction of being, at Han- 

 cock, the narrowest part of Maryland, as at that point, from north to 

 south, it is but two miles from Pennsylvania to West Virginia. In 

 shape Washington County is not unlike a triangle, with the western 

 end extended to join the Alleganj'^ County line. Frederick County is 

 to the east, Pennsylvania on the north, and West Virginia and the Po- 

 tomac River to the south. The highest elevation is Quirauk Mountain 

 in the Blue Ridge, 2,145 feet above sea-level, while the lowest, only 

 260 feet, is in the southeastern section near the Potomac. The soils of 

 the Blue Ridge are generally sandy loams, while those prevailing in 

 the Allegany Mountains are usually somewhat stiffer, with a greater 

 proportion of clay. The soils of the Hagerstown Valley are of a clay- 

 loam type, and the most productive in the State. 



The Forests. 



The county has a present wooded area placed at 24 per cent. Prob- 

 ably one-half of the forests are in the western quarter of the county, 

 and much of the remainder in the extreme east, with farm lands and 

 scattering woodlots between. It is on these middle areas, however, 

 where the trees are in great part growing on fertile soils, that the 

 heaviest stands of timber may be found, though in size such areas are 

 by far too small ever to rank as large producers. There is no pine of 

 any consequence in the eastern or central portions of the county, but 

 some considerable stands in the west where it grows in mixture with 

 hardwoods, though nowhere constituting an important part of the for- 

 est. Although several pines occur, the prevailing species is the scrub 

 pine, of small size and little value. 



Chief among the hardwoods on the ridges and upper slopes in 

 the western mountain sections are scarlet oak, chestnut oak, and chest- 

 nut ; with black, white and red oaks on the lower slopes ; white oak, 

 ash, elm, and tulip in the ravines. The occurrence and distribution 



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