THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I9QI12 53 
Sie 
The production of salt is one of the larger and more stable 
branches of the mineral industry and has been carried on in New 
York State for upwards of a century. The occurrence of rock salt 
is widespread in the central and western counties, south of the 
Salina outcrop, but its exploration through mine shafts or wells 
is restricted to a few places that possess natural advantages for 
conducting these operations and for marketing the product. At 
present, 6 counties contribute to the output, with a total of about 
30 individual mines and evaporating works. 
Few changes in the industry have taken place recently and it is 
hardly to be expected that any notable developments will occur in 
the near future. The productive capacity of the local plants long 
since reached or passed the point of equilibrium with the market 
requirements. This condition has caused keen competition and 
brought about the extinction of some of the smaller and less favor- 
ably situated enterprises. The industry as a whole, however, seems 
to be on a firm basis and except for some uncertainty as to the 
results of the new tariff which proposes to remove the duty on 
foreign salt, the outlook for the immediate future is more encour- 
aging than it has been in several years. 
Reports from all the companies operating last year showed a 
production of 10,502,214 barrels of 280 pounds. This was the 
largest total that has ever been returned for a single year, the next 
largest having been in 1910 when it amounted to 10,270,273. Com- 
pared with the output of 10,082,656 barrels in 1911 there was a gain 
of 419,558 barrels or about 4 per cent. Converted to a tonnage 
basis, the product last year was equivalent to 1,470, 309 short tons, 
against 1,411,572 short tons for IgIo. : 
The value of the salt production as fixed by the figures reported 
by the companies was $2,597,260, exclusive of the cost of package 
and freight to market. From this, an average of 24.7 cents a 
barrel is obtained for the whole amount. The prices received for 
evaporated salt were generally higher than in the preceding year 
and in fact in any other year since 1907. Under the highly com- 
petitive conditions that have existed in the local markets as well 
as in those of other states where the New York producers have a 
foothold, prices had slumped steadily during the previous few 
years. In 191i, the average value was only 21.7 cents, whereas it 
was 22 cents in IQIO, 23.3 cents in 1909, 23.7 cents in 1908:and 
25 cents in 1907. 
It is to be noted that the average values as given are for the 
