62 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Richburg and Wirt pools have been most productive. The oil is 

 found at depths of from 1400 to 1800 feet. The Andover pool lies 

 partly in the town of West Union, Steuben county, and is account- 

 able for the production in that section. 



The productive wells in the three counties number about 10,500, 

 of which 7500 are in Allegany county, 200 in Steuben and the re- 

 mainder in Cattaraugus county. All are pumped, using natural gas 

 derived from some of them for power. The average yield is now 

 less than one-third of a barrel a day. 



SALT 



The salt-producing industry experienced fairly prosperous con- 

 ditions during the year 191 3, as in the preceding season. Produc- 

 tion was at a high rate in response to an active demand, and record 

 figures were reported for the output as a whole, although in one or 

 two branches little or no gain was registered. Along with the in- 

 creased demand there was some advance in the prices of different 

 grades of evaporated salt, a most welcome feature to the manufac- 

 turers who for a long time have had to face a continual slump in 

 the market. 



For many years the industry in this State showed the effects of 

 a great overextension of the productive capacity. An active cam- 

 paign in the exploration and development of the salt deposits was 

 carried on during the last two decades of the last century, and the 

 enterprises that came into existence then had a capacity far in ex- 

 cess of any available outlet for the products. As a consequence, 

 competition became so keen that manufacturers realized scarcely 

 any profits, and many were compelled to shut down their plants. 

 Some of the mines and evaporating plants which went out of busi- 

 ness at the time have never resumed operations. In the last decade 

 the stress of conditions found relief through the gradual growth of 

 the markets, so that now productive capacity and demand are more 

 nearly balanced. Few new enterprises have been started within 

 late years, and it would appear that there is no present need of any 

 material addition to the productive facilities. 



The history of the industry in New York dates back to colonial 

 days, but the first authentic records of salt production begin with 

 the year 1797, when, by an act of the Legislature the State assumed 

 control of salt manufacture on the Onondaga Reservation. Until 

 1881 the evaporating works were all centered around Syracuse 

 which derived its early importance from the salt industry. In that 



