Geography of Ohio 151 



The salt was made by evaporating the brine in large iron kettles, 

 each holding from 60 to 80 gallons. These were set in a row over a 

 flue Avhich terminated at one end in a chimney. The fuel was wood taken 

 from the adjacent forests. 



The brine was pumped from the wells into a tank constructed of wood, 

 and connected by tubes made of the same material with the kettles. 

 After having been boiled for a time the brine was dipped into a cistern 

 where it was allowed to cool and settle. In this manner such material 

 as had been mixed with the water in a mechanical way was deposited, 

 and also oxide of iron, which was at first dissolved in the brine, but was 

 made insoluble by boiling. 



When the settling had been completed, the brine was again conveyed 

 by wooden tubes to certain ones of the row of kettles, known as "grain- 

 ers." Into these was thrown a small quantity of clay which served as a 

 nucleus for any remaining impurities, the whole being skimmed from the 

 surface of the kettles. Beef's blood soon took the place of the clay, and 

 this crude method is still followed in one small plant. 



When salt had been precipitated in the kettles bj' boiling, it was thrown 

 into "drainers" and the mother liquor, containing principally calcium 

 chloride, drained off. The salt was then dumped into a shed known 

 as the "salt house," and the drying completed. It was then barreled 

 and marketed."** 



Geological Relations. For several years salt has been produced 

 in two sections of Ohio: one near the Ohio River, centering at 

 Pomeroy ; and the other in the northern part of the state in Medina, 

 Summit and Cuyahoga counties. The wells near the Ohio ri\'er 

 seldom are more than 1600 feet deep. These wells get their 

 best brine from the Berea formation, but a brine of lower specific 

 gravity is found at two or three shallo\ver depths. The brine 

 is pumped to the surface and evaporated. East of Pomeroy, 

 deeper drilling is required to penetrate the Berea formation, 

 because of the dip of the strata. While at many j^oints in the 

 state, wells in the Berea give a brackish water, in few localities 

 is the water sufficiently brackish to make salt reduction profitable. 

 Not infrequently a farmer drills a well for drinking purposes, in 

 the sections where the Berea is on or near the surface, and the 

 water is so salty that it cannot be used for his stock. 



The salt wells in the northern part of the state all penetrate 

 rocks of the Salina series which contain numerous beds of rock 

 salt. The w^ells in Medina and Wayne counties are about 2700 

 feet deep, while in the vicinity of Cleveland they seldom need to 



' Dr. J. A. Bownocker, Geological Survey of Ohio, Bulletin No. 8, (1906), pp. 9-12. 



