THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I908 53 



1908 was 9,005,311 barrels of 280 pounds against 9,657,543 bar- 

 rels in the preceding year. The decrease amounted to 652,232 bar- 

 rels, or a little under 7 per cent. The value of the output was 

 $2,136,736 as compared with $2,449,178 for 1907. The production 

 fell a little short of the quantity reported in 1906, but was larger 

 than any total reported previous to that year. 



Expressed on a tonnage basis the output last year amounted to 

 1,260,743.5 short tons against 1,352,056 short tons in 1907, showing 

 a decrease of 91,312.5 short tons. 



A smaller output was indicated in the returns for both brine 

 salt and rock sail, though the former showed relatively a greater 

 loss. It is to be noted, however, that only a part of the brine salt 

 included in the production of the State was actually sold or used 

 in that form. The largest producer of brine, the Solvay Process 

 Co., consumed all of its output in the manufacture of soda prod- 

 ucts, including soda ash, carbonate, bicarbonate etc. With this 

 single exception the companies who were engaged in the industry 

 marketed their product in the form of rock and brine salt. 



There were 32 mines or works that contributed to the production 

 last year, as compared with ^;^ in 1907. They were distributed 

 among the following counties: Genesee i, Livingston 3, Onondaga 

 20, Schuyler 2, Tompkins 3, Wyoming 3. The International Salt 

 Co., which is the largest producer of .the various grades of brine 

 salt for the market, operated three plants : Ithaca works, Ithaca ; 

 Cayuga works, Myers and Glen works, Watkins. The Yorkshire 

 works at Warsaw, operated by the company in 1907, were inactive 

 last year. There were no new firms added to the list during the 

 year. 



The large number of plants in Onondaga county may be ex- 

 plained by the development of the solar process of salt manufac- 

 ture in Syracuse and vicinity where it has been carried on for a 

 long time by individuals and companies who have received their 

 supply of brine from wells located on State lands. The brines are 

 distributed among the evaporating plants through pipe lines. The 

 control of the lands and wells was relinquished by the State last 

 year through a sale to the Onondaga Pipe Line Co. and the Mu- 

 tual Pipe Line Co. of Syracuse. The proj^erty was transferred for 

 the nominal sum of $15,000. This terminated the long established 

 interests of the State in salt manufacture. The output of solar 

 salt in Syracuse and vicinity has been marketed for many years 

 through the Onondaga Coarse Salt Association. 



