USA > West Virginia > Hampshire County > History of Hampshire County, West Virginia : from its earliest settlement to the present > Part 19
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fork of Cheat river leaves Pocahontas, its bed is three thousand seven hundred feet. A few of the highest peaks in Pocahontas, Pendleton, Randolph and Tucker counties are: Spruce knob, Pendleton county, four thousand eight hundred and sixty feet above sea level; Bald knob, Poca- hontas county, four thousand eight hundred; Spruce knob, Pocahontas county, four thousand seven hundred and thirty; High knob, Randolph county, four thousand seven hundred and ten; Mace knob, Pocahontas county, four thousand seven hundred; Barton knob, Randolph county, four thousand six hundred; Bear mountain, Pocahontas county, four thousand six hundred; Elleber ridge, Poca- hontas county, four thousand six hundred; Watering Pond knob, Pocahontas county, four thousand six hundred; Panther knob, Pendleton county, four thousand five hun- dred; Weiss knob, Tucker county, four thousand four hundred and ninety; Green knob, Randolph county, four thousand four hundred and eighty-five; Brier Patch moun- tain, Randolph county, four thousand four hundred and eighty; Yokum's knob, Randolph county, four thousand three hundred and thirty; Pointy knob, Tucker county, four thousand two hundred eighty six; Hutton's knob, Ran- dolph county, four thousand two hundred and sixty.
We do not know whether the vertical upheaval which raised the plateau, or the horizontal compression which elevated the mountains, has yet ceased. We know that the work of destruction is not resting. Whether the up- lift is still acting with sufficient force to make our moun- tains higher; or whether the elements are chiseling down rocks, and lowering our whole surface, we cannot say. But this we can say, if the teachings of geology may be taken as warrant for the statement: every mountain, every hill, every cliff, rock, upland, even the valleys, and the whole vast underlying skeleton of rocks, must ultimately pass away and disappear beneath the sea. Rain and frost, wind and the unseen chemical forces, will at least complete
GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY AND CLIMATE. 253
the work of destruction. Every rock will be worn to sand, and the sand will go out with the currents of our rivers, until the rivers no longer have currents, and the sea will flow in to cover the desolation. The sea once covered a level world; the world will again be level, and again will the sea cover it.
There is greater diversity of climate in West Virginia than in almost an other area of the United States of equal size. The climate east of the Alleghanies is different from that west of the range; while that in the high plateau region is different from either. The state's topography is responsible for this, as might be expected from a ver- tical range of more than four thousand feet, with a portion of the land set to catch the west wind, and a portion to the east, and still other parts to catch every wind that blows. Generally speaking, the country east of the Alleghanies has the warmer and dryer climate. In the mountain regions the summers are never very hot, and the winters are always very cold. The thermometer some- times falls thirty degrees below zero near the summit of the Alleghanies; while the highest summer temperature is seldom above ninety degrees, but the record shows ninety-six. The depth of snow varies with the locality and the altitude. Records of snow six and seven feet deep near the summits of the highest mountains have been made. At an elevation of fifteen hundred feet above the sea, there was snow forty-two inches deep in 1856, along . the mountains and valleys west of the Alleghanies. In 1831, at an elevation of less than one thousand feet, snow accumulated three feet deep between the mountains and the Ohio river. Tradition tells of a snow in the north- western part of the state in 1780 which was still decper; but exact measurements were not recorded. The sum- mer of 1854 was almost rainless west of the mountains. In the same region in 1834 snow fell four inches deep on the fifteenth of May; and on June 5, 1859, a frost killed almost
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every green thing in the central and northern part of the state.
The average annual rainfall for the state of West Vir- ginia, including melted snow, is about forty-seven inches. The precipitation is greater west of the Alleghanies than east, and greatest near the summit of these mountains, on the western side. Our rains and snows come from two general directions, from the west-southwest, and from the east. Local storms may come from any direction. East- ern storms are usually confined to the region cast of the Alleghanies. The clouds which bring rains from that quarter come from the Atlantic ocean. The high country following the summits of the Appalachian range from Can- ada almost to the Gulf of Mexico is the dividing line be- tween the two systems of rains and winds which visit West Virginia. Storms from the Atlantic move up the gentle slope from the coast to the base of the mountains, precipi- tating their moisture in the form of rain or snow as they come. They strike the abrupt eastern face of the Allegha- nies, expending their force and giving out the remainder of their moisture there, seldom crossing to the west side. The Blue Ridge is not high enough to interfere seriously with the passage of clouds across their summits; but the Alleghanies are usually a barrier, especially for eastern storms. As the clouds break against their sides there are sometimes terrific rains below, while very little, and per- laps none falls on the summit. On such an occasion, an observer on one of the Alleghany peaks can look down upon the storm and can witness the play of lightning and hear the thunder beneath him. Winds which cross high mountains seldom deposit much rain or snow on the lee- ward side.
Whence, then does the western part of our state receive its rains? Not from the Atlantic, because the winds which bring rain for the country west of the Alle- ghanies, blow towards that ocean, not from it. No matter
GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY AND CLIMATE. 255
in what part of the world rain or snow falls, it was derived from vapor taken up by the sun from some sea or ocean. An insignificant portion of the world's rainfall is taken up as vapor from land. From what sea, then, do the winds blow which bring the rain that falls against the western slopes of the mountains, and waters the country to the Ohio river and beyond?
Take the back track of the winds and follow them to their starting point, and that will settle the question. They come from a direction a little west of southwest. That course will lead to the Pacific ocean west of Mexico. Go on in the same direction two thousand or three thous- and miles, and reach the equator. Then turn at right an- gles and go southeast some thousand miles further and reach that wide domain of the Pacific which stretches from South America to Australia. There, most probably, would be found the starting point of the winds which bring us rain. The evidence to substantiate this statement is too elaborate and complex to be given here; suffice it that the great wind systems of the world, with their circuits, currents and counter-currents, have been traced and charted until they are almost as well known as are the rivers of the world. Not only is the great distance from which our rains come an astonishing theme for contempla- tion, but the immense quantity transported is more amaz- ing-a sheet of water nearly four feet thick and covering an area of twenty thousand square miles, lifted by the sun's rays every year from the South Pacific, carried through the air ten thousand miles and sprinkled with a bountiful profusion upon our mountains, hills, vales, meadows and gardens to make them pleasing and fruitful.
CHAPTER XXI.
-«O»
WEST VIRGINIA'S FOREST TREES
There are four hundred and twelve species of forest trees in North America, exclusive of Mexico. Of these one hundred and three species are found in West Virginia. The Atlantic coast has two hundred and ninety-two spe- cies; the Pacific coast fewer than one hundred. There are not more than thirty species between the Alleghanies and the Rocky mountains which are not also found on one coast or the other. West Virginia, with less than twenty-five thousand square miles, contains in its forests one-fourth of all the species of trees. north of Mexico, in the whole American continent, and its number exceeds those of the Pacific coast from the Gulf of California to the shores of the Arctic ocean, embracing above one million square miles, ranging in temperature from the torrid to the frigid zones. It is usually the case that a certain tree is found over a wide country, but there is always some restricted territory in which it reaches its greatest development. The differ- ence in size and appearance between this tree at its best and at its worst is often so great that a person acquainted with it at one extreme would scarcely recognize it at the other. A number of the forest trees found in West Vir- ginia reach their greatest development in this state. Few territories of the world, so limited in area, can show the fullest development of as many species. The difference between trees and shrubs, as usually insisted on by botan- ists, is this: a tree has one straight, woody stem, which branches above the ground. A shrub does not have that characteristic. Trees and shrubs are not always dis-
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WEST VIRGINIA'S FOREST TREES.
tinguished by their size. Some trees are smaller than some shrubs; as, in Greenland, the former may not be six inches high, and in Florida the latter may be thirty feet. There is no well understood reason why a certain species among trees flourishes in one territory and is absent from an ad- joining area of similar climate and soil. There is no doubt that trees and plants, as species, migrate the same as ani- mals, but of course much more slowly and in a different way. They spread from one area to another. Yet, from some unknown cause, there are lines which it seems a cer- tain species cannot pass. To this is largely due the group- ing of one kind of trees in one part of an area and another kind in another part. In West Virginia may be found a belt of white pine extending across three or four counties. Parts of the adjoining counties have no white pine. The persimmon flourishes in one county, in one valley, itt one range of hills, and is not found on similar hills or in similar valleys not far away. The black haw is also select, and seemingly unreasonable as to its habitat. The same ob- servation might be truthfully made of other trees. Some- times a certain soil is unfriendly to a certain species of plant, while other plants grow upon it. There is a kind of laurel in West Virginia which will no more grow on a lime- stone soil than in a gorge of ice.
In this brief chapter little more will be attempted than to present a catalogue of the species of forest trees found in West Virginia. Care has been taken to make the list complete. Some of the species are found only in one or two localities in the state, while others cover the whole area. Perhaps the chief cause for West Virginia's divers- ity of forest trees is the peculiar topography of the state, by which its climate and soil are affected. It has a greater average elevation than any other state east of the Missis- sippi, yet it possesses much low country, the lowest being the district along the Potomac, at and above Harper's Ferry. It has climate and soil peculiar to lofty peaks; to
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ranges of mountains less elevated; to upland ridges; to narrow valleys and coves; to low hills, and wide, fertile val- leys. The rainfall on the western slopes of the Alleghany · range is very heavy. It is somewhat less westward of that range, and is still less east of it. Thus the climate and soil vary exceedingly within an area of less than twenty- five thousand square miles. The trees suited to each soil and climate have taken possession of such localities as they like best. In the catalogue which follows, the popular name of the species is first given and the botanical name follows for the benefit of those who care to examine the subject more particularly.
CUCUMBER, or mountain magnolia, magnolia acuminata. It grows best along the Alleghanies.
ELKWOOD, or umbrella tree, magnolia umbrella. On western slope of the southern Alleghanies its highest de- velopment is reached.
YELLOW POPLAR, liriodendron tulipifera, sometimes at- tains a height of one hundred and eighty feet. The bot- anist Ridgway describes trunks ten feet in diameter. It is estimated that four billions of feet of yellow poplar stand in the forests of West Virginia, more than half on Cheat river and its tributaries.
PAWPAW, or custard apple, asimina triloba, grows best east of the Alleghanies.
LIN, tilia Americana, called also lime tree, basswood and bee tree. Its bloom is rich in honey.
WAHOO, or white bass wood, tilia heterophylla. It is somtimes confounded with lin, which it resembles.
PRICKLY ASH, or toothache tree xanthoxylum Ameri- canum.
WAFER ASH, or hoptree, sometimes called shrubby tre- foil, ptelia trifoliata.
AMERICAN HOLLY, ilex opaca. This is an evergreen, popular for Christmas decorations. It is not found in all parts of West Virgina.
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WEST VIRGINIA'S FOREST TREES.
INDIAN CHERRY, rhamnus Caroliniana. The wood is of little value, but the fruit is pleasant to the taste.
FETID BUCKEYE, or Ohio buckeye, æsculus glabra. This is the best wood in the world for artificial limbs.
SWEET BUCKEYE, æsculus flava. This and fetid buck- eye are of the same genus, but this has fragrant blossoms. The nuts, when caten by cattle, are injurious.
STRIPED MAPLE, acer Pennsylvanicum. It has other names, moosewood, striped dogwood, goosefoot maple, whistlewood. It is seldom more than seven inches in diam- eter. There are six species and one variety of maple found in the forests of West Virginia.
MOUNTAIN MAPLE, acer spicatum, grows from Georgia almost to the Arctic ocean.
SUGAR TREE, or sugar maple, hard maple, rock maple, acer saccharinum. Bird's eye maple and curled maple are accidental forms. Black sugar maple, acer nigrum, is a variety of the sugar tree.
SOFT MAPLE, acer dasycarpum; also called white maple and silver maple. It is seldom met with east of the Alle- ghanies in West Virginia. -
RED MAPLE, acer rubrum, or swamp maple. The bark is sometimes used with sulphate of iron in making ink.
ASH-LEAVED MAPLE, or box elder, negundo aceroides, is one of the most widely distributed trees of the American forests.
STAGHORN SUMACH, rhus typhena.
DWARF SUMACH, rhus capallina. The leaves and bark are largely used in tanning.
POISON SUMACH, or poison elder, rhus venenata. The poison of this tree is due to a volatile principle called toxi- codendric acid.
LOCUST, or black locust, robinia pseudoacacia. 3 The wood is durable in contact with the ground. Of late years great ravage has been committed on this tree by the locust- borer.
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HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE.
COFFRE NUT, glymnocladus Canadensis. The seeds are used as coffee, and the leaves as poison for house flies.
HONEY LOCUST, gleditschia triacanthos, also known as sweet locust, honey shucks and three-thorned acacia. There are two or more varieties, one nearly destitute of thorns.
REDBUD, or Judas tree, cercis Canadensis.
WILD PLUM, or Canada plum, prunus Americana, has been cultivated for the fruit until it is almost a domestic tree.
CHICASAW PLUM, or hog plum, prunus angustifolia, is not believed to be a native of West Virginia, but was im- ported from the west, and now grows wild west of the Alleghanies.
WILD RED CHERRY, or pigeon cherry, prunus Pennsyl- vanica. It flourishes best near the summit of the Alle- ghanies. It is sometimes called choke cherry.
WILD BLACK CHERRY, prunus serotina. This valuable tree reaches its greatest development in West Virginia.
SWEET SCENTED CRAB, pyrus coronaria, so called on ac- count of its blossoms.
AMERICAN CRABAPPLE, pyrus angustifolia.
MOUNTAIN ASH, pyrus Americana, grows only on high mountains in West Virginia. It extends to Greenland.
COCKSPUR THORN, or Newcastle thorn, cratægus crus- galli. The long, sharp thorns are occasionally used as pins for fastening woolsacks.
RED HAW, or white thorn, scarlet haw cratagus coc- cinea, is the heaviest wood in West Virginia. The name scarlet haw is misleading, as the true scarlet haw is not found in this state.
BLACK THORN, or pear haw, cratagus tomentosa. There are several varieties; that which bears the largest fruit mispilus pometata, dull red or yellow, reaches its highest development in West Virginia. The tree has a wide geographical range.
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WEST VIRGINIA'S FOREST TREES.
WASHINGTON THORN, cratægus cordata, is found chiefly near the Alleghanies.
SERVICE TREE, amelanchier Canadensis, called also June berry, shad bush, May cherry, grows from Labrador to Florida, but reaches its greatest development on the Alleghany mountains. A variety found on the summit of that range has a tree only a few feet high with fruit sweet and pleasant.
WITCH HAZEL, hamamelis Virginica, reaches its highest development among the Alleghanies.
SWEET GUM, or red gum, starleaved blisted, liquidamber, liquidamber styraciflua, is exceedingly tough as a wood.
DOGWOOD, cornus alternifolia.
FLOWERING DOGWOOD, or boxwood, cornus Florida.
SOUR GUM, or black gum, pepperidge, tupelo, nyssa syl- vatica. This is the most unwedgeable wood in West Vir- ginia. There are many varieties with differences so slight that botanists cannot agree on names for them. Marshall groups them as "forest gums," and Wangenheim as "many-flowered gums."
SHEEPBERRY, or nannyberry, viburnum prunifolium, emits a disagreeable odor.
BLACK HAW, or stagbush, viburnum prunifolium.
SORREL TREE, or sourwood, oxydendrum arboreum.
CALICO BUSH, or small laurel, ivy, spoonwood, kalmia lat- ifolia, is poisonous to sheep and cattle.
GREAT LAUREL, or rose bay, rhododendron maximum, when in bloom is one of the most gorgeous trees in the world. It never grows over limestone.
PERSIMMON, diospyros Virginiana.
SNOWDROP TREE, halesia tetrapetra, has its northern limit in West Virginia. It is seldom seen growing wild in this state, but is common in cultivation.
WHITE ASH, fraxinus Americana, has large commercial value as lumber.
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HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE.
RED ASH, fraxinus pubesceus, is sometimes mistaken for white ash, but it is a smaller tree.
GREEN ASH, fraxinus viridis. The wood is inferior to white ash, but resembles it in appearance.
BLACK ASH, or hoop ash, ground ash, fraxinus sambu- cifolia, is one of the most northern of the species in Amer- ica, reaching Newfoundland.
SASSAFRAS, sassafras officinate. Although this well- known wood is plentiful in West Virginia, it does not reach its greatest development in this state, but in Arkan- sas, where it attains a height of one hundred feet and a diameter of seven feet.
SLIPPERY ELM, or red elm. moose elm, ulmus fulva, is val- uable for its mucilaginous and nutritious inner bark, used for medicinal purposes.
WITTE ELM, or water elm, ulmus Americana.
ROCK ELM, ulmus racemosa; also known as cork elm, hickory elm, white elm, cliff elm. The wood is largely used for bicycle rims.
SUGARBERRY, or hockberry, celtis occidentalis.
RED MULBERRY, morus rubra.
SYCAMORE, or buttonwood, platanus occidentalis. This is the largest tree of the Atlantic states. sometimes attain- ing a height of one hundred and thirty feet and a trunk diameter of fourteen feet. The largest specimens are usually hollow.
WHITE WALNUT, or butternut, juglans cinerea.
BLACK WALNUT, juglans nigra. This valuable wood reaches its greatest development in West Virginia, west of the Alleghanies. It is a splendid forest tree, sometimes attaining a height of one hundred and forty-five feet. It doee not form extensive forests in this state, but the trees are scattered.
SHELLBARK HICKORY, carya alba, is of the first economic value.
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BLACK HICKORY, carya tomentosa, is also called king nut, mocker nut, big bud hickory, and white heart hickory.
BROWN HICKORY, carya porcina, is sometimes con- founded with black hickory. It is also called pig nut and switch bud hickory. It is a little heavier than black hickory.
BITTER HICKORY, or swamp-hickory, carya amara.
WHITE OAK, quercus alba, reaches its greatest devel- opment in West Virginia, along the western slopes of the Alleghanies. There are thirty-seven species of oak in the United States, of which fourteen are found in West Vir- ginia. There are at least sixty-one varieties, and a full share of them belongs to this state.
Post OAK, or iron oak, quercus obtusiloba.
SWAMP WHITE OAK, quercus bicolor. A tree of this species at Genesee, New York, the largest, perhaps in the world, reached a diameter of ten feet.
Cow OAK, or basket oak, quercus michauxii.
CHESTNUT OAK, quercus prinus.
CHINQUAPIN OAK, quercus prinoides. The wood of this tree is the heaviest of all the oak family in this state. The chinquapin has a remarkable ability of adapting itself to all sorts of environments, and it changes it shape, size and other characteristics to conform to its surroundings. East of the Alleghanies it is usually a shrub.
RED OAK, quercus rubra. There are six well-defined varieties of red oak; not all, however, in West Virginia.
SCARLET OAK, quercus coccinea.
QUERCITRON OAK, quercus tinctoria. The bark of this tree is much used in tanning.
BLACK OAK, quercus nigra.
SPANISH OAK, quercus falcata.
PIN OAK, or water oak, quercus palustris. reaches its greatest development west of the Alleghanies.
PoSSUM OAK, quercus aquatica.
LAUREL OAK, quercus imbricara.
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HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE.
CHESTNUT, castanea vulgaris, variety, Americana. It reaches its greatest development among the southern Alleghanies; specimens as much as thirteen feet in diam- eter having been measured.
BEECH, fagus ferruginea.
IRONWOOD, or hop horn beam, ostrya Virginica.
BLUE BEECH, or water beech, carpinus Caroliniana.
YELLOW BIRCH, or gray birch, betula lutea, is often mistaken for white birch, betula alba, variety, populi- folia, which is not found in West Virginia. The wood is largely used in the manufacture of pill boxes.
RED BIRCH, or river birch, betula nigra.
BLACK BIRCH, betula lenta. The fermented sap of this tree is used in making birch beer.
BLACK ALDER, almus serrulata, has at least eight varie- ties. It is often little more than a thick-branching shrub.
BLACK WILLOW, silex nigra, has several varieties, some of which are divided into sub-varieties. The willow family offers many puzzles for botanists.
SANDBAR WILLOW, silex longifolia, is found along the Potomac river.
ASPEN, or quaking asp, populus tremuloides, is the most widely distributed North American tree, growing from the Arctic ocean to the Rio Grande, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
POPLAR, populus grandidentata, is seldom more than seventy-five feet high, or two in diameter.
WHITE CEDAR, or arbor vitae, thuya occidentalis, the lightest wood in West Virginia, is found among the Alle- ghanies, on the rocky banks of streams.
RED CEDAR, or savin, juniperus Virginiana, is the most widely distributed of the cone-bearing trees of North America. Its wood is preferred to all others for lead pencils.
WHITE PINE, pinus strobus, reaches in this state its southern limit as an important source of lumber supply.
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There is an area of about two hundred square miles, con- taining six hundred million feet, of marketable white pine in West Virginia.
PITCH PINE, pinus rigida.
HICKORY PINE, pinus pungens.
YELLOW PINE, pinus mitis, is sometimes called spruce or short-leaved pine. The wood is much heavier than that of pitch pine and nearly twice the weight of white pine.
BLACK SPRUCE, picea nigra, has at least three varieties. It is found near the summit of the Alleghanies.
HEMLOCK, tsuga Canadensis, is found in many localities among the Alleghanies. It grows best on steep hillsides facing the north, and in deep and cold ravines.
BALSAM FIR, or balm of Gilead fir, abies balsamae, is not abundant anywhere in this state, but is occasionally found near the summit of the Alleghanies.
The weights of the woods of West Virginia differ greatly, ranging from red haw, the heaviest, to white cedar, the lightest. To ascertain the comparative weights of woods, the specimens are carefully cut and measured, and are made exactly of the same size. They are then dried at a temperature nearly equal to that of boiling water, and are kept in that heat until they cease to grow lighter. They are then weighed, and a record kept of each. Below will be found the weights in pounds of a cubic foot of each species of wood in this state. Fractions are omitted, and only the even pounds are given. A cubic foot of water weighs about sixty-two and a half pounds. There is no wood in this state that heavy; consequently they all float in water. The weights, from the heaviest to the lightest, are as follows:
Red haw, a little more than fifty-four pounds to the cubic foot; chinquapin, fifty-four; ironwood, fifty-two; post oak, fifty-two; shellbark hickory, fifty-two; black haw, fifty-two; flowering dogwood, fifty-one; black hickory,
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