DEPARTMENT OF PLANT AND ANIMAL CHEMISTRY. 



J. B. LiMDSEY, Chemist* 



The Distribution, Composition and Cost of Lime, 



H. D. Haskixs and J. F. Merrill. 



I. MASSACHUSETTS LIME SOURCES. 



In the western part of this state there exists sufficient lime of 

 excellent qualit}' to supply the requirements of Massachusetts 

 agriculture for a long time to come. Hitchcock, as early as 1835 

 in his Geology of Massachusetts, makes this very emphatic in the 

 following statements : 



"No part of the world is better supplied with limestone than 

 the western part of Massachusetts. Enough exists to furnish the 

 whole state, and I might say probably with truth, the whole 

 of New England, through all future generations with marble and 

 quicklime. In other parts of the state limestone is comparatively 

 rare." 



The limestone belt, belonging chief h" to what is known as the 

 lower Silurian formation, begins at Adams on the north and 

 extends to the south the entire length of the state. Mention may 

 be made of large active quarries at Adams, Cheshire, Lee and 

 West Stockbridge. Deposits have also been found in other portions 

 of the state but so small in area or so impure in quality as not 

 to be considered relatively' of an}" commercial importance. The 

 fact may be inentioned, however, that in earlier times, before the 

 opening of the Boston and Albany railroad, the small deposits 

 at Bernardston and Bolton were quarried, burned and used to 

 supply the local demand. 



2. PRESENT CONDITION OF TRADE IN AGRICULTURAL 



LIME. 



The lime trade in Massachusetts is at present in a rather chaotic 

 state. This is due largely to two causes: 



(1) There are many different kinds and grades of lime offered, 

 and dealers do not as a rule guarantee composition. Each is 

 likeh" to represent the particular article he desires to sell as best, 



♦This portion of the bulletin was undertaken at the suggestion of Dr. J. B. Lindsey, who 

 also co-operated with Mr. Haskins in the preparation of the results for publication. The 

 collection of samples and data was made by Mr. Haskins and the analytical work was per- 

 formed by Messrs. Haskins and Merrill. 



