BRINE SPRINGS. 
109 
Chloride of calcium, . 1*53 
Chloride of magnesium,.— 0.30 
Sulphate of lime,. 4*31 
Carbonate of lime,. 0.02 
Chloride of sodium,... 73.72 
Water, &c. .. 920.12 
A year or two afterwards, another well was sunk on the east side of the ridge, and the great 
fountain of brine was found at the depth of eighty feet. The strata passed through were 
similar to those in the preceding well. The New Well, more recently opened, (I believe in 
1824,) was a hundred and twenty feet deep. At a hundred and fifteen feet, the brine was said 
to have been of sufficient strength to yield eighteen ounces of saline matter to the gallon. On 
reaching the quicksand, however, the brine rose rapidly, and in two or three days overflowed 
the top of the well. 
In 1823, the salt made at the Montezuma springs amounted to between sixteen and twenty 
thousand bushels, of which about a thousand were procured by solar evaporation. From that 
time, the annual produce gradually decreased, until it scarcely amounted to more than a few 
hundred bushels. 
This great depression of the manufacture may be ascribed to several causes. One of these 
undoubtedly is the rudeness of the pump works. The brine is raised by hand or horse power, 
and the tubes are so imperfectly constructed that fresh water is continually flowing in and 
reducing its strength. The soil is, moreover, owned by individuals, and the manufacturer is 
obliged to purchase or lease it, as well as to erect his works. At the Onondaga springs, on 
the contrary, grounds are furnished by the State without charge. 
Again, the inferior strength of the Montezuma brine has operated unfavourably upon the 
manufacture at this place. On the other hand, the advantages possessed here, are an abun¬ 
dant supply of wood, and eligible sites for the erection of works on a sidecut from the Erie 
canal. Arid it seems to be reasonable and proper that the State should erect pump works at 
these springs, as she has at those of Onondaga. The importance of this suggestion will be 
evident from the fact which I have on the authority of an intelligent gentleman of Montezuma, 
that the cost of raising brine by the rude machinery which they have heretofore been obliged 
to use, is not less than six cents a bushel. If a good well should be sunk here, and pump 
works erected under the direction of the State, as at Salina, Syracuse, &c. a new stimulus 
would be given to the manufacture of salt at these springs. Such an arrangement would add 
to the revenue of the State, while it could in no way interfere with the manufacture at the 
Onondaga springs. 
The brine obtained from one of the borings made here previously to 1840, had a specific 
gravity of 1.07543. 1000 parts of the brine yield 101.20 dry solid matter. The composition 
of the whole is as follows : 
