SALT. 447 



There are several other places in the vicinity where there are springs of 

 less magnitude which would be good salt producers. There are large 

 quantities of cedar timber in the vicinity that could be used for fuel, if it 

 should be thought necessary to evaporate the water by the steam process; but 

 with such a dry atmosphere as exists at that locality during most of the year 

 there could be large quantities made by solar evaporation alone. 



In the western edge of King County, on the Big Wichita, is a bold spring 

 near the bank of the river that is very salty, and the same could be said of 

 nearly all the springs along that river in that part of the county. 



Along the Salt Fork of Red River there are many places where salt lies in 

 thick incrustations, and this part of the State might get her supply from 

 these points if some one had the enterprise to inaugurate the project of man- 

 ufacturing it. 



In the vicinity of Double Mountain there is a creek known as Salt Creek 

 which at a time of low water is thick with salt. No doubt upon proper 

 examination a place might be selected in that locality where salt could be 

 profitably produced. 



The same thing could be said of hundreds of places throughout the Per- 

 mian formation in Texas, and it is only a question of cheap transportation 

 when this part of the State will be famous for its salt works. 



There are many salt wells in the Carboniferous formation. At Graham, 

 in Young County, a few years ago, a large quantity of salt was produced from 

 shallow wells. For a description of these wells, see the description of Young 

 County, in another part of this Report. 



The flowing wells at G-ordon and other places in Palo Pinto County are all 

 salty. 



The flowing well near Waldrip, in McCulloch County, is salty. 



The deep wells near the town of San Angelo, in Tom Green County, are 

 salty. 



In the examinations of water to be used in the manufacture of common 

 salt there are only two principal things to be observed. The first is as to the 

 amount of chloride of sodium (common salt), and the amount of sulphate of 

 lime (gypsum) the water contains. If the water contains but a small percent- 

 age of salt the expense of evaporation will be too great to allow the economic 

 production of that material. Gypsum is the only obnoxious ingredient that 

 need be feared in the waters of Northern Texas. The gypsum is the first 

 to be precipitated on the evaporation of the water, and generally forms in 

 hard crusts on the bottoms of the evaporating pans. It is almost impossible 

 to get rid of the gypsum from the brine by any cheap process. It would not 

 matter so much if a small per cent of gypsum did precipitate with the salt, 

 but as has been said above, it precipitates first and forms a hard crust on the 



