﻿OOLITIC LI]\rESTOXE IXDUSTEY 



85 



plentiful outcrops of other limestone in the oolitic belt, equally 

 suitable for road-metal and similar purposes, render the oper- 

 ation of crushers at the quarries less profitable than it might 

 otherwise be. 



That the near future ^yill witness a greater effort for the 

 utilization of waste appears undoubted. The natural conditions 

 of the industry will make for it. Increasing competition and 

 the growth of large scale production normally lead to the fullest 

 possible utilization of materials, and these forces are now mak- 

 ing themselves felt in the oolitic field: 



At the present time lime-bmming seems the most promising 

 method of waste utilization. ]\Iost producers say that the lime 

 burned from the oolitic stone is too hot. too quick-slaking, and 

 that its production would be unprofitable, but very few have 

 tried it. The possible reasons Avhy lime-making from the oolitic 

 has been so little attempted have been stated, as follows: "1. 

 Freight rates, the cost of bringing in the coal and shipping the 

 lime. 2. A prejudice in the local markets against rich lime. 

 3. AYant of a large market, as the oolitic quarries are situated in 

 the midst of the Mississippi A'alley. with large deposits of lime- 

 stone on all sides. 4-. The lack of some enterprising person to 

 push the business into prominence, as all the stone dealers are 

 interested in the sale of building stone and not lime. The last 

 is probably the most important reason. "^^ 



Xo quarry is at present burning lime as a by-product. It is 

 said that the Perry-]\Iatthews-Buskirk Stone Company derives 

 no profit from the operations of the Horseshoe Lime Company in 

 their quarries, except the convenience of having their piles of 

 waste kept cleaned up. But the recent success of this company, 

 and the long continued success of lime-burning at Salem point 

 the way to a possible source of profit from material that is now a 

 dead loss, which enterprising producers cannot much longer af- 

 ford to ignore. 



As yet there have been no attempts to manufacture Portland 

 cement as a by-product. HowcA'cr. as the field becomes more 

 fully developed and competition increases, the present wasteful- 

 ness will undoubtedly be replaced by a more intensive utilization 

 of material, and the development of the manufacture of Portland 

 cement from the waste in the oolitic quarries may confidently 

 be expected. 



^'■> Ind. Geol. Report, xxi, 337. 



