SALT  AND  OTHER  RESOURCES  OF  THE  WATKINS  GLEN 
DISTRICT,  NEW  YORK. 
By  E.  M.  Kindle. 
INTRODUCTION. 
The  Watkins  Glen  and  Catatonk  quadrangles  embrace  an  area  of 
about  2,000  square  miles,  extending- from  the  New  York-Pennsylvania 
State  line  into  the  southern  margin  of  the  Finger  Lake  region,  and 
include  the  greater  part  of  Tompkins,  Tioga,  Chemung,  and  Schu}der 
counties  and  a  small  portion  of  Cortland  and  Broome  counties.  The 
region  is  primarily  a  farming  country,  and  its  mineral  resources  are 
few  and  of  small  importance  as  compared  with  its  agricultural 
wealth. 
The  most  important  mineral  deposits  occurring  in  these  quadrangles 
are  the  beds  of  salt. 
SALT. 
Location  of  deposits. — The  salt  deposits  of  this  area  belong  to  a 
broad  east-west  belt  of  salt-producing  territory,  extending  from 
western  Wyoming  County  eastward  into  Madison  County,  a  distance 
of  about  150  miles.  There  is  no  definite  information  as  to  the  south- 
ern limit  of  the  salt  beds,  because  the  rapidly  increasing  depth  at 
which  they  lie  south  of  the  developed  region  has  prevented  deep 
wells  from  reaching  the  salt  horizon.  It  is  probable  that  they 
extend  a  considerable  distance  to  the  south  of  the  200  or  more  wells 
and  shafts  now  used  in  exploiting  them.  The  salt  beds  doubtless 
underlie  all  of  the  northern  part  of  the  quadrangles  under  considera- 
tion. The  salt  industry  has  been  developed,  however,  at  only  two 
localities,  Ithaca  and  Watkins,  where  physiographic  and  economic 
conditions  are  most  favorable  for  it. 
The  deeply  excavated  valleys  of  Lake  Cayuga  and  Lake  Seneca 
enable  the  driller  to  start  several  hundred  feet  nearer  (he  salt  than 
on  the  higher  lands  away  from  the  lakes,  while  both  water  and  railway 
transportation  arc  available  for  the  manufactured  product. 
Topography. — This  region  comprises  a  series  of  rather  steep  hills 
and  ridges  and  their  intervening  valleys.  The  hills  reach  a  maximum 
elevation  of  a  little  more  than  2,000  feet.  With  two  exceptions  all 
of  the  larger  valleys  lie  between  the  800-  and  1,200-foot  contours. 
These  exceptions  are  Lakes  Cayuga  and  Seneca,  which  lie  respectively 
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