The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-05-08
RECORD SALT PRODUCTION.
The Production of 1909 Ahead of That
of Any Previous Year.

Salt was produced on commercial
scale in 1909 in practically one-third
of the commemorative of the United
States. The value of the output, in
GLIDING small amounts reported from
Hawaii and Porto Rico, reached the
highest figure vet recorded in the
history of the industry-namely S.
343,S3l. Detailed information on the
industry and figures of production and
consumption, import and export, are
given in an advance chapter of Min
eral Resources" for 1909, "The produc-
ton of salt and bromine," by w. G.
Phalen, of the United States geologi-
cal survey. The report is now avail
able for distribution by the director
of the survey, Washington, d. G.
The salt industry Is an important
one and touches directly every individ-
ual in the country Salt is mostly
thought of in connection with its use
in cooking and seasoning its most
obvious use 1t has, however, a great
many other applications. It's value as
a preservative is well known, the fish,
meat and dairying industries being
largely dependent upon it Its use in
different chemical and metallurgical
processes is also of great Importance
IL is indirectly main source of
chlorine. which is used extensively in
the manufacture of bleaching powder.
Salt is also used as a source of chlorine
in the chlorination of certain gold ores.
One of its most valuable uses is in the
manufacture of soda by the lie Blanc
and ammonia processes, the resulting
soda entering largely into the soap and
glass industries.
Possible Association with Potash Salts.
One of the main sources of salt is
common sea water and some of the
California product is obtained from the
ocean. When sea water is evaporated
to dryness, salt is among the first COM
pounds to be deposited The last are
the potash and magnesium compounds,
these being the most soluble. In re-
cent publication of the geological sur
vey on potash Salts" it is stated that
the celebrated German potash-salt de-
post at Stassfurt is overlain as well
as underlain by salt 1t is not wholly
impossible that such may be the case
in some places in this country, and the
hope is expressed by Mr.. Phalen that
every salt producer in the United
States will in the future be on the
lookout, when boring or otherwise ex-
ploring for sale, for possible occur
rences of potash compounds. The oc-
curence of bromine in parts of Michi-
gan, in the Ohio Valley, on Kanawha
river, and in western Pennsylvania Is
worthy of special mention in this con-
nection, as bromine indicates the pres
ence of partly eyaporated sea water or
so-caled mother liquor.
The Salt Industry in Different States.
The six leading states in the salt
industry are Michigan, New York, Ohio,
Kansas, Louisiana, and California, and
in 1909 these six states produced salt
valued at $7,7l4,557 The salt from
these states is obtained from rock salt,
sea water and natural brine-in other
words, from all the known sources of
salt. Mr.. Phalen also gives a brief
resume of the bromine industry car
ried on in Michigan. Ohio and Pennsyl-
vania in connection with the salt in
dustry, and concludes the report with
a photography of important papers re.
lating to salt.