No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICUl/rUKE. 619 



SALiT AND BKUMINE. 



Many y(>ars ago — between 50 and lOU — i'ennsyivauiu piL-imred 

 salt was a very important commodity, and there was a great demand 

 for it beyond our borders. There was a ready market as far away 

 as New Orleans. For some reason, not fully explained, the industry 

 has been allowed to gradually die away. True, the official reports 

 show that during 1902 the States of Ohio, West Virginia and Penn- 

 sylvania produced 2,318,571) barrels of 280 pounds each; but careful 

 inquiry will show that most of this came from our two sister states. 

 Three hundred thousand barrels, or say 1,000 barrels each working 

 day, would be a very liberal estimate for Pennsylvania, while Ne^v* 

 York produces more than 8,000,000 barrels, annually. Is the very 

 small output in our State due to small deposits, or to the high stand- 

 ard weight of 85 pounds per bushel, when no other state has fixed 

 higher than 70 pounds (Vermont), and most of the states 50 pounds? 

 Or is it due to lack of encouragement or otherwise in the manufac- 

 ture ? One thing, however, is sure. Pennsylvania prepared salt is as 

 attractive in its pure white color as any in the world, and it sur- 

 passes in bromine nearly every species of halite (common salt) found 

 elsewhere. Careful geological and mineralogical examination of the 

 rock formations of the Commonwealth convince me that salt, of the 

 very best quality, can be profitably produced in the following conn 

 ties: Bedford, Blair, Bradford, Cambria, Cameron, Carbon, Centre, 

 Clarion, Clinton, Clearfield, Columbia, Crawford, Dauphin, Elk, Eric, 

 Fayette, Forest, Fulton, Iluritingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, Lacka- 

 v.anna, Luzerne, Lj^coming, McKean, Monroe, Northumberland, 

 Perry, Pike, Potter, Schuylkill, Somerset, Sullivan, Susquehanna, 

 Tioga, Wayne, Westmoreland and Wyoming. In Pike and Wayne 

 counties it may me necessary to bore 2,000 to 2,200 feet, but the 

 superior quality of the brine will more than compensate for the 

 extra expense. In Fayette, Indiana and Westmoreland counties 

 some of the best salt wells of the past v/ere less than 800 feet deep. 



I have called attention to the bromine in our salt because of the 

 increased demand for it as a constituent in bromide of potassium, 

 while the American product seems to be graduall}^ decreasing. 

 Pennsylvania is credited with the production of bromide as follows: 

 In 1898, 119,998 pounds; in 1899, 111,150 pounds; in 1900, 105,592 

 pounds; in 1901, 101,595 pounds, and in 1902, 93,595 pounds. The 

 exact figures for 1903 are not yet awiilable. The market price for 

 bromide is now about 28 cents a pound. Michigan is the chief pro- 

 ducer. Most of the product of Pennsylvania is prepared for market 

 by manufacturing firms in Allegheny, Natrona and Pittsburg. That 

 there is much inducement to revive the salt industry of Peunsylva 

 nia for bromide alone is apparent, when it is olVicially stated that the 



