416 BO.UID OF AGRICULTURE. 



It is not proposed to present accounts of all the ores of iron 

 known to occur in Maine, but merely to notice those which prom- 

 ise to be of value as they are more fully explored and developed. 

 The list is, consequently, small ; including the following : 



Limonite, at Wade plantation, near Houlton, and at Linneus — 

 certain varieties of this species, at Katahdin Iron Works — Mag- 

 netite, at Union — Pyrites, at Jewell's island. 



This list, in which has been placed the pyrites of Jewell's island, 

 on account of its value in the manufacture of sulphuric acid and 

 alum, of course excludes all the minor deposits, like those at New- 

 field and Shapleigh, Hodgdon and Clinton. 



1. The ore found at Wade plantation, township 13 in range 4, 

 is mainly limonite, with a lower per cent, of water than usual, oc- 

 curring in such quantity as to deserve considerable attention. 

 This bed was first described by Dr. C. T. Jackson, in 1837, as 

 being " an ore of red hematite." His analysis, which I give below, 

 indicates that under this name he included what we now call 

 limonite, or hydrous per-oxide of iron. Limonite is often known 

 by the name brown hematite. 



The results of Dr. Jackson's were these : 



"In one hundred grains the ore contains as follows — 



Water, 6.00 



Insoluble residue consisting of silex, . 8.80 

 Peroxide of iron, ..... 16.80 

 Oxide of manganese, .... 8.20 



99.80 

 Loss, ....... .20 



100.00 

 16. 8 of peroxide of iron contains 53 of pure iron." 



My analyses indicated that, in the specimen given to me, the 

 quantity of water was somewhat greater than that found by Dr. 

 Jackson. This and the fact that the amount of peroxide of iron 

 detected in my analyses was smaller than that recorded above, lead 

 me to entertain the opinion that the quality of the ore is, by no 

 means, uniform. This ore is nearly identical with the one which is 

 now extensively worked in Woodstock, N. B., and was considered 

 by those who first examined the two beds, to be exactly similar. 



Although it is my belief that the Woodstock ore yields no more 

 pig iron than that in Wade plantation would produce with equal 



