448 THE GEOLOGY OF MINNESOTA. 



[Quarries. Lime. 



exposes twenty to twenty-five feet of this limestone, vertically, in beds from one to three or four 

 feet thick. Quarrying was begun here in 1878, aud in 1879 furnished the stone used for the 

 Belle Tlaine bridge, the sales of that year being $2500. Within a third of a mile southwestward, 

 Joseph Kunz has quarried considerably at several places on his farm in the S. E. J of section 19. 



Valuable quarries of this limestone are worked upon the west bluff of the Minnesota river 

 in Belgrade, Nicollet county, opposite to Mankato. 



The St. Paul & Sioux City railroad company have quarried upon both sides of the Blue 

 Earth river near their railroad bridge. The stone for the new bridge crossing this river in section 

 27. South Bend, was being quarried in 1880, about a sixth of a mile above it, from the Shakopee 

 limestone which forms the upper part of the bluff north of the river. 



The quarrying mentioned beside the Watonwan river, close below Garden City, on land of 

 the S. M. Folsom estate, has been of small amount, perhaps supplying in all fifty cords of stone. 



In the valley of the Le Sueur river, the fallen blocks of Shakopee limestone before spoken 

 of on land of O. Halberg, in the east half of section 2, Bapidan, have been somewhat used for 

 masonry; but this rock was not seen in place in the bluff above, which rises to a hight of severity- 

 five feet. Andrew Algren quarries this limestone slightly at its outcrop on his farm, less than a 

 mile above the last, in the N. E. } of section 11, Rapidan, getting out ten to twenty cords yearly. 



Quarries on the Maple river within a mile above its mouth, in sections 12 and 13, Rapidan, 

 are owned as follows: by Columbus Ballard, at the west side of the river, in the N. E. \ of the 

 S. W. \ of section 12, leased to John C. Roland through several years past, considerably used for 

 bridges, house-building, &c.; by Swan Larson, west of the river, in the S. W. } of the S. W. i of 

 section 12, selling ten to twenty cords yearly at $3 per cord; by A. C. Wood, east of the river, in 

 theS.E. J of the S.W. } of section 12, yielding excellent stone and considerably quarried; and by 

 P. H. Kelly, in the N. J of the N. W. J- of section 13, also good, but not recently worked. The 

 west pier of the bridge at Garden City was from Ballard's, aud the east pier from Kelly : s quarry. 



In Decoria the Shakopee limestone on the lower part of the Big Cobb river has been quar- 

 ried since 1875 by Matthew Ryan, in section 18, selling some seventy-five cords yearly, at $3 per 

 cord; and since 1877 by A. W. White and Samuel Curtis, in section 19, selling annually ten or 

 twenty cords. These quarries only supply the demands of their vicinity, and are scantily worked 

 because they lack a sufficient market; but the stone here and on Maple river seems to be equal in 

 quality to that of Mankato. 



Lime. The St. Lawrence limestone in Judson appears never to have 

 been used for lime-burning. From the Shakopee limestone on the Maple 

 river lime was manufactured about fifteen years ago, but not since, be- 

 cause its cheapness at the Mankato kilns prevents competition. 



At Mankato lime is burned by J. E. Beatty and O..R. Mather, from the 

 layer No. 3 of Prof. Winchell's section of the Shakopee formation here. 

 This buff dolomite produces a dark lime which slacks to a brown or cream 

 color. It is magnesian, with a little admixture of sand, and is burned 

 more easily, slacks with less heat, and sets more slowly, than pure lime. 



It is preferred by masons for brick and stone work, and for plastering ex- 







cept the finishing coat. 



J. R. Beatty's kiln, at the west side of the north end of Front street, has been in operation 

 ten years, averaging 7,000 barrels of lime yearly. It is a continual burner, with annual capacity 

 of 12,000 barrels. O. R. Mather since 1878 has leased George Maxfield's kiln at the east side of 

 the street, opposite to the foregoing, and burns about 6,000 barrels per year. This lime varies in 

 price from fifty to seventy-five cents per barrel of about 225 pounds. 



One and a third miles northwest from these kilns, in the X. W. \ of section 6, Mankato, 



