Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 4.djvu/19

 A RETARDED FRONTIER

undergrowth of laurel and rhododendron. Throughout the western counties of the region there is abundance of bitumi- nous coal and considerable deposits of excellent cannel. On many of the farms in Breathitt, Perry, and Knott counties it is notan unusual thing to find family coal pits from which fuel is dugas it is needed.

There are three general types of farms in this region: the valley farm, with its fields spread out along the bot- tom lands ; the cove farm in the cove or hollow at the mouth of a "branch ;" and the hill farm, push- ing its corn fields up the steep slopes, sometimes to the

very top. It was a hill farmer who, according to mountain tradition, fell out of his* corn field and broke his neck. These three types are by no means clearly defined. Oftentimes the valley farm creeps up the mountain side, for the valleys at best are very narrow, and only where the stream has swept round the long curves and deposited a generous "bottom" is there chance for level tillage on a considerable scale.

The highways oftentimes set out pretentiously from the county seats, but when they leave the main streams and turn up the creeks there is rapid degeneration. The bed of the stream becomes the roadway for much of the distance, and in many valleys the fording is so frequent as to seem well-nigh continu- ous. Riding is almost the only means of travel. Saddle-bags are as commonly used as they were by circuit riders and other travelers in Indiana and Illinois fifty years ago. Wagons are

MOUNTAIN GIKLS ON THE HIGHWAY