REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I915 II3 



may be returned to agricultural use without material decrease of 

 fertility. The bank of molding sand which is thus exposed is 

 shoveled into wagons, care again being necessary not to extend 

 the cut below the layer into the open sand. The sand is then 

 hauled to the nearest siding for shipment, or is placed in stock pile 

 for loading in the future. 



The business for the most part is in the hands of regular dealers 

 who carry on operations in several places and are able to supply the 

 various requirements of the market. The individual land owner 

 seldom has enough familiarity with the grading of sand to enable 

 him to undertake the business. The right of digging the sand on a 

 parcel is sold under contract, the shipper paying either a lump sum 

 or on a tonnage basis with the agreement that he shall have a cer- 

 tain term of years in which to complete the removal. The amount 

 that is paid depends altogether on circumstances which vary with 

 each particular tract, such as the grade of the sand, thickness of 

 the layer and distance to railroad siding or to the river. 



The crop obtainable is placed roundly at looo tons for each 6 

 inches of thickness, a 30 inch layer thus yielding 5000 tons to the 

 acre. 



Haulage is one of the largest items in the cost and one that can 

 not well be reduced ; it is likely rather to increase as time goes on 

 and the more accessible lands are exhausted. About 5 miles is the 

 maximum limit of haulage at present. 



The methods of production are the same as were employed in the 

 beginning of the industry in the district, but it is doubtful if they 

 can be materially improved as to mechanical features. The abso- 

 lute need of personal contact with and supervision of the operations 

 is a bar to any great change in that respect. 



The weakest feature of the practice, in the writer's estimation, 

 is the lack of positive standards for the grading of the sand in the 

 field. As conducted at present, the grading is a matter of rule-of- 

 thumb tests dependent for their value upon the skill and experience 

 of the practitioner and consequently involving an indeterminable 

 personal factor. In such circumstances it could hardly be expected 

 that uniformity of grading would obtain between different pro- 

 ducers ; on the other hand, the way is opened for considerable 

 variation not only as between different producers but also with 

 regard to separate shipments from the same source. 



Just how far-reaching the results of such lack of precision in 

 grading molding sand may be is not within the writer's knowledge, 

 and is a matter which the foundrymen themselves can best answer. 



