346 



GRANITE. LIMB. 



endure the changes of our durable climate for ages, 

 without decay or disintegration. The naked crags 

 and masses of rock afford irresistible evidence on 

 this point. These rocky hills and mountains, worth- 

 less as they now seem to most persons, undoubt- 

 edly contain the best of building materials. The 

 quarries which will be opened will form an impor- 

 tant branch of industry, and will enable our citizens 

 to construct both public edifices and private dwell- 

 ings of our own native materials, and which are as 

 durable and beautiful as those now brought from 

 Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, at so great 

 an expense." 



Lime. — Lime is the well-known product from 

 limestone, its carbonic acid being driven off by heat, 

 and is an indispensable article in architecture, en- 

 gineering, &c. As the material from which it is 

 obtained is inexhaustible in the United States, the 

 quantity of lime annually manufactured is only pro- 

 portioned to the demand; in other words, to the 

 amount consumed. From statistical facts collected 

 by Dr. Jackson, it appears that the quantity of lime 

 annually manufactured in the State of Maine ex- 

 ceeds 700,000 casks, which sells for one dollar a 

 cask, thus amounting to a larger sum than the 

 whole annual produce of the gold region of the 

 United States, and that, too, without risk, and with 

 a certain return of profit. The town of Thomaston 

 alone manufactures more than 300,000 casks ; the 

 cost of burning being about $160,000, it requiring 

 40,000 cords of wood, the average cost of which 

 is $3 per cord. Lime casks cost 28 cents a piece, 

 quarrying seven cents per cask, and rock in the quar- 

 ry three cents ; the average quantity of lime burned 

 in a kiln is 300 casks. In many places in Maine, 

 lime is burned where wood costs but 75 cents per 

 cord ; which makes a considerable difference in the 

 expense. Seven eighths of the Thomaston lime is 

 transported to different markets in vessels belong- 



