STATE GEOLOGIST 115 



ing. Aside from the unparalleled strength of the tripe of the 

 Saginaw valley, the position, surrounded by forests, which must 

 cheapen to the last degree the cost of barrels and fuel, and 

 upon the immediate shoie of navigable waters stretching from 

 Oswego to Chicago, is such as to enable us to compete success- 

 fully with any other source of supply to the western and north- 

 western States. 



As to the actual cost of producing a barrel of salt at either 

 of the points at which the manufacture has been commenced, I 

 am not in possession of the data to enable me to speak defi- 

 nitely. At Saginaw, as I am authentically informed, wood of 

 mixed quality, (i.e. "hard" and "soit,") can be delivered for 

 $1 38 per cord. At Syracuse, experiments have shown that 

 one cord of haid wood will produce, in blocks of 50 or 60 ket- 

 tles, an average of about 53 bushels of salt. Assuming, as is 

 done at Syracuse, that two cords of "hard wood are worth three 

 of. soft, the cost of hard wood at Saginaw should be $1 656. 

 Keckouing 53 bushels to a cord of wood, this would make the 

 fuel cost at Saginaw $0 031 per bushel, or $0 155 per barrel 

 of salt. If one block of kettles is capable of producing but 40 

 barrels of salt per day, and the services of six men, at $1 00 

 per day, are required to attend them, the element of labor enter- 

 ing into the cost of a barrel is $0 15. At Syracuse barrels 

 cost 25 cents each, and I see no reason why they cannot be 

 produced for much less than this at Saginaw. I am iaformed, 

 however, that the lowest bids offered are 21 cents per barrel. 

 It is admitted, however, that this is for a superior article. At 

 the works of the East Saginaw company, where it is stated 40 

 barrels per day are now manufactured, it is reliably announced 

 that not more than $25,000 have been expended in boring two 

 wells, the largest and deepest of'which has not yet come into 

 use. Assuming that one half this sum has been expended in 

 boring the well now in use, and that capital is worth 10 per 

 cent., the annual interest on the investment is $1,250, or $4 166 

 per day, or $0 104 per barrel of salt produced. Should the 

 wear and tear of fixtures and apparatus amount to 5 per cent. 



