The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-05-11


and each peculiarly friendly TO one spe-
Giles NJ trees. and perhaps hostile; sonic-
times prohibltory, 10 another. Ihus'
rich limestone soil, made up almost eN-
cluslvely OF dlsintegrating and dissDlv-
ing limestone rock, IN perfectly Ndapt>
cd 10 most trees, but IL poisonous to
the great laurel. which cannot endure
Il, a large limestone always shows
an open rOnd through u laurel thickct.
some species OF ash flourish best on
dry, rocky. sterile ridges, where Few
other trees can ind nourishment. a
few species of trees which rench their
greatest development m the cold coun-
try north OF us, extend south into TINS
state, but creep along the blenk sum-
mltA OF the highest mountains In orr
der to ind environments similar TO
those OF their cold northern home. The
service tree, sometimes called June
berry, Is naturally northern species.
tlourlshlnE In Labrador, but II has
spread southwark, and Is found In West
Virginia ut moderate elevations along
the outlying ridges Of the Alleghenlcs.
But n variety OF Il stubbOrnly RdhercS
TO It's stormy climate, although far
from home. and VIII grow nowhere else.
II nestles among the Lodges and bowl
ders on the very summit OF the Ale
gheny mountains. where there "
scarcely enough soil 10 support huck-
leberricE. 1t attOlns u height or four
or five feet.
sneak OF II as variety OF service.
This Is only a conclusion OF my own,
ms have never been able to find In any
botanical work description which
seemed TO apply to IT, | presume. how
ever, that It is well known to bota~
nlsts. have seen II only In three coun.
ties OF this state. In Il narrow strip not
Il mile wide, following the top OF the
Allegheny mountains northeastwardly,
from near the head Of SenAco creek
In PendletOn county to the region above
the Canaan valley In Tucker county.
The altitude OF the mountains where
II grows Is about four thousand feet
II species OF trees, like species OF ami
mails, obey the laws OF evolution, we
have rare example In the service tree.
The branch OF the family which adapt
ed itself TO tho environments OF a low
er altitude and more fertile soil has
been able to spread far away and at
tain great developments, but the ar
boreal cousin which refuses 20 come
down from the mountains, and which
clnEs TO environments as much like
Labrador as possible, remains dwarfed
in size and restricted IN area OF habitat.
BarrlerS 10 the spread Of Trees,
It is thus seen what some Of the bar
rlers to the spread OF trees are In West
Virginia. one kind cannot cross 4 high
mountain: another cannot descend into
the low country: stlll another IL so
tropical In It's tendencies. Is the snow-
drop, that II cannot penetrate a lRti-
tude more northern than the south
eru part OF our state; yet another, "a
the mountain ash, iS 70 confirmed IN It's
habits OF n cold life that 1t can enter
West Virginia only by following the
tops OF the highest and coolest noun
tains. Elevation alone makes great
differences In the climates Of different
parts OF this state. Spring Is almost
a month later In Pocahontas county
than In Wood. This difference Is due
to difference OF altitude. The ground
Is bare OF snow In Grant county In
autumn a full month after snow has
covered Randolph, just across the
mountain. and OF but little greater al
titude. This difference Is due TO Ran
dolph's being in the track OF the west
winds, and Grants being sheltered
from them. All OF these differences
act more or less as barriers TO the
spread of trees, and help to produce
West ViTginiR's heterogeneous forests.
There are species OF trees that are
seldom checked in their spread by
mountains or any other natural OBJ
stncles They grow on mountain and
plain. in valley and on rocky slope.
The dogwoOd is one OF these; and the
QuakinE asp ls stili more remarkable
In this respect. 1t has the widest geo.
graphical range OF any North Ameri-
can tree. II IL found on the coast OF
the Arctic ocean, and from the Allan
tic to the Pacific. and southwark al
most to the tropics.
In the forests Of West Virginia there
are two species OF buckeye. six spe-
Giles and one variety OF maple; two
species OF locust. with one or TWO va
rietles: two species OF wild plum:
three species Of wild cherry: two spe-
cies OF crabapple: three species OF
thorn; two OF dOEwOOd; two OF gum.
with several varieties; I'VE OF ash; two
Of laurel: three OF elm; two OF walnut;
four OF hickory; fourteen OF oak, with
several varieties: two Of beech; three
OF birch: two OF cedar and seven OF
pine. one species OF wild plum. the
ChICkRsaw, Is not believed to be- ma
tive OF West Nirginia's forests, bat was
imported and afterwards became Wild,
The heaviest wood OF West Virginia
Is red haw, and the liEhtest white ce-
dar. a cubic foot Of tho former. when
thoroughly seasoned. weighs nfty.fOur
pounds; a cubic foot OF the latter
weighs twenty pounds. For the pur-
poses Of comparison. II may be stated
that cubic foot OF water weighs about
slxty-two and oHe-halt pounds Chin.
Quapin is next 10 heaviest The weight
OF few OF the other woods range as
follows per cubic foot: 1ronwod. fifty
two; post oak. shellbark hickory. black
haw, hfty-two: black hickory, flower
ing dogWood, fifty-une; COW oak. fifty;
perslmmor, forty-nine: blRckthorn,
forty-eiEht, blue ash. fOTty-seyen. Jack
oak. forty-siN. Wild plum, forty-iive;
yellow ash. fOrty-four: sugar maple,
forty-three: dogwod, forty-twO; white
ash, forty-Onc; sour gum. forty; big
laurel. thirty-nlnc; yellow pine, thirty.
eight: red mulberry. thirty-sevcn; red
birch. thlrty-BiX; sycamore. thirtY-iiYc;
Indian cherry. thirty-four; mountain
maple. thirty-three; pitch pine. thirty.
two; sassafrRs, thirty-one; cucumber,
wife Eastwood. twenty-seven. wafer
ash. twcnty-siT; yellow poplar. twenty
six: white walnut, twenty-five, balm OF
Gllead, twenty-fOur.
EItsnt OF Our Forests.
Government experts have estimated
the forests OF West Virginia at six
hundred and forty millions Of cords.
The counties OF this state having the
smallest proportion Of forest to cleared
lands are Harrison and Jefferson; the
second in proportion as group are
Monroe. Mason. jackson and ROane,
the third group consists OF Preston.
MononEalia. Marion. Taylor Barbour.
upshur. Lewis, DOddridEc. Tyler.
Richie. Wood, Ohio. Hancock ana
Brooke The fourth group Of counties.
those Of densest forests and proper,
tI0nally largest unclearcd area. EN-,
braces the remainder OF the state. In
the first two counties mentioned the
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