346 
GRANITE. — LIME. 
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 diflferent markets in vessels belongs 
