116 REPORT OF THE 



more, this item would add §0 052 to the cost per barrel. The 

 cost of packing is stated to be 2| cents per barrel at Syracuse, 

 and it could not be greater at Saginaw. 



Bringing together now these various items, we find the cost 

 of a barrel of salt at Saginaw to stand as follows: 



Fuel, hard and soft equally mixed $ r ' 155 



Labor of six men, at $1 00 per day, 150 



Barrel of superior quality 270 



Packing, 025 



Interest at 10 per cent, on $12,500, 104 



Wear and tear at 5 per cent, 052 



Total, $0 756 



Aside from the cost of superintendence and incidentals, it 

 does not appear how the above aggregate can be materially 

 increased when the business is once fairly established. At the 

 same time it must be admitted that it is rather early in the 

 history of the enterprise to venture upon calculations as to the 

 ultimate minimum cost of the manufacture. As an existing 

 fact it should be borne in mind that, aside from the greater 

 expense attending the commencement of any manufacture, and 

 that which is always incident to manufacturing on a small 

 scale, the chlorid of calcium which exists in considerable quan- 

 tity in all our brines, will materially enhance the cost of pro- 

 duction until some cheap methpd is discovered of eliminating it 

 by chemical precipitation. With whatever confidence, there- 

 fore, we may speak of the ultimate prosperity of this manufac- 

 ture in our State, it should not be forgotten that the enterprise 

 is still in its infancy; and, in view of the powerful competition 

 arrayed against it, still needs the fostering care of the govern- 

 ment to a liberal extent. 



Whether sueh liberality ought to extend to a continuance of 

 the existing bounty on the manufacture of salt, depends upon 

 various considerations, which the legislature alone will be com- 

 petent to estimate as a whole. In the meantime it may not be 

 amiss to offer the following suggestions, derived from geological 

 data. I purposely ignore the questions whether it is morally 



