THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I912 53 



SALT 



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 

 Salma 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 191 1 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 1910. 



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 191 1, the average value was only 21.7 cents, whereas it 

 was 22 cents in 19 10, 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 



