REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR 1923 23 
there is a continued demand for new supplies in order to maintain 
production necessary for communities using the gas. Inquiries 
relating to the geological conditions under which natural gas is 
found and requests for information relating to drilled wells are more 
numerous than for any other branch in industrial geology. Within 
the past 2 years two pools of considerable importance have been 
brought in: one at Dansville, Livingston county, and the other at 
Arkwright, Chautauqua county. It is of interest to note that several 
wells in the latter pool are among the largest ever found in the State. 
Many data concerning well records and geological conditions are 
available but scattered through our various reports. There are also 
unpublished data which have been obtained during recent years. 
These assembled and correlated would afford valuable material, 
which supplemented by further field studies would warrant publica- 
tion as a bulletin of the State Museum. The investigation of the 
natural gas resources of the State is perhaps more urgent than that 
of any other, with the possible exception of salt. 
Salt. The annual production of rock and brine salt in New York 
State has now reached a total of over 14,000,000 barrels annually. 
Within the past year or two a new shaft for the production of rock 
salt has been completed at Portland Point, Cayuga county. This is 
the most easterly of the shafts that have been sunk to rock salt in 
the State. Another shaft has recently been completed by the Retsof 
Salt Company near the village of York, Livingston county. At 
present a test well, at Himrod, Yates county, put in by the diamond 
drill has reached the salt beds. 
Frequent requests for information relating to the salt deposits in 
New York are received by this office. These requests we are 
often able to satisfy by ferreting out scattered details contained in 
our numerous records on oil and gas wells. Such backhanded pro- 
cedure of obtaining information on salt is, however, cumbersome 
and many times inadequate. The salt industry merits an exhaustive 
study of its own, not only because of its present volume of produc- 
tion, but also because no special report of the industry has been 
made in more than 30 years. 
If New York State is to retain the high place she has established 
for the production of salt, every encouragement is due those inter- 
ested in the problem. An exhaustive report would prove of assist- 
ance to those endeavoring to establish plants ultimately under such 
conditions that production can be maintained economically with due 
regard for thickness and character of salt beds together with depth 
and location of shaft and transportation facilities. 
