West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1888-04-19

from the hard woods, OF which come
the building material Of the continent.
From the Tennessee southwark to the
Mexican Gulf is found the cypress, the
cottonwood, the magnolia and others,
like the last, evergreen foliage teres.
Westward OF the above lies the Prai-
rie Region, or. as the name implies,
treeie<s Jt,ias. This vast expanse is
entirely destitute of the hard woods,
and of the soft varieties as well, save
the narrow ribbons of forest which here
and there fringe the margins of rivers.
On the western slope of the Rocky
Mountains and stretching away from
the Columbia river on the north, 90
the Gulf of California on the south
lies the Californian region. Here the
redwood and Duglas fir grow luxuri-
antly even to the submits Of the Sier-
ra and Coast mountains. The mann
moth trees, the Wdahtog Dnnn givu.ter.
of the botanists, the largest trees in
the world, are found on the western
slopes of the Sierra Nevadas. These
evergreens with here and there, isolat-
ed groups of deciduous trees, constitute
the forests of the Pacific slope. All,
except few varities of the latter, are
soft wood and almost valucless as
building material
Next is the West Indian region, en-
bracing within its limits the West India
Islands, Yucatan and the southern ex-
tremity Of the Floridan Peninsula
The palm, birch and cotton wood-all
soft woods--are the representative trees.
y X Having taken this cursory
view of the floral regions of the two
continents, let us now enqnire from
which have come and are to come the
hard wood used and to be used in the
building of railroads, canals, naval and
merchant marine of inland and ocean
commerce, together with those which
enter into the manufacture Of agricul-
tural implements and hundred other
uses for which the soft woods are not
adapted. 1t must be from the stately
forest which coYer the central part of
the North American forest rcgion-thc
second enumerated above. To the cast
ward throughout the New England
States, New York and Pennsylvania.
the supply has been largely reduced.
But of that wonderful region
where grow to gigantic size the various
oaks, the sugar. hickory, maple, wal
nut, beech, cherry, mulberry. locust,
&c, West Virginia owns, or embraces
within her confines 1872 o square
miles nr 9.779 200 acres covered with
dense forest standing in almost prime
val grandeur. Whence then must
come the hard wood to be used in the
various industries during the next ccr-
turyY Shall British America furnish
it? No, for it is not there, Shall it
be brought from the Pacific coast?
No, for it is not there. Shall it be
obtained from the mountains and
plains of South America? Certainly
not, for the same reason that it cannot
be secured elsewhere. 1t must come
from the valleys, spurs and foot hills
of the Allegheny mountains, and West
Virginia is to contribute a large pro-
portion of it, Hence, we ask: Do
West Virginia land owners know or
realize the value of their possessions?
We answer no, for III the aggregate it
cannot be estimated If they knew
fully. the wanton destruction of the
forests in the interior of the State
would cease at once. Instead Of
betting vast areas of the best and
therefore tn, most valuable timber on
the American continent aud leaving it
to decay, or cutting it down and burn
ing it simply to get it out Of the way
ofcultivation, let il stand for time.
and join in the effort now being made
by the State immigration and Devol-
opment Society, to induce capital to
come and build railroads and improve
our rivers 30 that our people may realize
handsomely on the timber and other
resources by putting them in the mar
kets Of the world Then will The
Little Mountain State rival in wealth
and prosperity her sister commonwealth
The value Of her forests has been
roughly given at $50 900, 600. TAX
ing this estimate as approximately
correct, what wonderful change it's
realization would produce But when
will it be? The State may be likenod