570  CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,  1904.         [bull.  260. 
In  1893  the  pioneer  well  in  the  Seneca  Lake  basin  was  drilled  at 
Salt  Point,  near  Watkins,  for  the  Glen  Salt  Company.  Other  wells 
were  drilled  for  this  company  at  the  same  locality  later,  and  a  plant 
having  a  daily  capacity  of  1,000  barrels  was  put  in  operation  by 
it  in  1894. 
More  recently  the  Watkins  Salt  Company  and  the  Union  Salt 
Company  have  erected  plants  for  the  manufacture  of  salt  in  the 
village  of  Watkins.     Each  of  these  operates  from  three  to  four  wells. 
The  vast  amount  of  salt  in  western  New  York  has  led  at  times, 
to  overdevelopment  of  the  industry,  with  resulting  small  profits  to 
the  manufacturer.  The  National  Salt  Company  undertook  to  rem- 
edy this  condition  a  feAv  years  ago  and  obtained  control  of  most  of 
the  plants.  By  closing  unnecessary  factories  prices  were  tempo- 
rarily improved.  This  led  to  fresh  competition  from  new  factories, 
and  a  consequent  overproduction.  As  a  result  of  the  low  prices 
which  followed,  the  National  Salt  Company  passed  into  the  hands 
of  a  receiver  in  the  summer  of  1902.  The  Ithaca  Salt  Company  and 
the  Glen  Salt  Company  were  operated  by  the  National  Salt  Com- 
pany. The  Remington  and  the  Watkins  Salt  companies  remained 
independent  ma nu  f act u rers. 
At  present  three  companies  are  in  actual  operation  at  Watkins — 
the  Watkins  Salt  Company,  the  Union  Salt  Company,  and  the  Glen 
Salt  Company.  Two  companies  are  in  operation  at  Ithaca — the 
Remington  and  the  Ithaca  Salt  companies. 
Manufacture  and  output. — The  salt  is  extracted  from  the  wells  by 
forcing  a  flow  of  water  through  them,  which  returns  to  the  evaporat- 
ing sheds  a  strong  brine.  Grainers  and  open  pans  are  generally  used 
in  reducing  the  brine  to  salt.  The  vacuum  process  is  used  by  the 
Glen  City  Company,  of  Watkins. 
The  total  output  for  the  year  1904  of  the  several  companies  operat- 
ing at  Ithaca  and  Watkins  was  207,475  tons. 
NATURAL   GAS. 
Natural  gas  in  small  quantities  has  been  obtained  from  several  of 
the  deep  wells  which  have  been  drilled  in  the  quadrangle.  The  "  test! 
well  "  just  south  of  Ithaca  encountered  a  small  flow  of  gas  in  the] 
lower  Helderberg  limestone  horizon.  One  of  the  salt  wells  in  Ithaca 
struck  a  flow  of  gas  at  a  depth  of  1,545  feet.  A  well  which  was 
drilled  ten  years  ago  to  a  depth  of  2,100  feet  at  Wellsburg  encoun- 
tered gas  at  two  horizons.  The  upper  one,  which  was  in  the  Che- 
mung, at  a  depth  of  137  feet  below  the  surface,  is  said  to  have 
furnished  a  flame  several  feet  in  height  for  several  days.     In  the 
