Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1917-06-14
Obe
Peoples Forum
Limetone In Jackson and Josephine
Counties, Oregon
By A. e. Kellogg.

BY A. e. Kellogg.
Great Importance attaches Just
now in determining the location as
to availability of the best limestone
deposit within the borders of the
state. This due to the fact that the
commission created by the legisla-
ture at its last session, to locate such
deposit, and install a plant to re-
duce limestone into fertilizer, and
furnish 1t to the people of Oregon
at actual cost, are now examining
and passing upon the deposits in the
state for that purpose. This act Of
the legislature was passed more par
ticularly on the account of the rapid
ly growing demand for limestone to
be applied to the acid agricultural
soils in the various parts Of the most
productive portions of the great Will
lamette valley, where the farmers
are beginning to realize that this is
necessary to transform their soils
from a state of rather narrow and
limited productivity to lands of
boundless capabilities. Other farm
ing regions will sooner or later re-
quire similar treatment. Therefore,
limestone is one of Oregon's min
eral resources that is bound to have
an intimate and essential practical
relationship to the development of
the states most important and funda-
mental industries, which is farming.
Along with a number of other
problems equally or comparatively
important is some of the other fields
of our mineral industries, the Ore
gon Bureau Of Mines and Geology
has given a great deal of attention
to searching out available limestone
deposits in the state CONTIGUOUS to
transportation facilities. The offic-
ials Of the bureau have keenly felt
the necessity Of giving to this prob
lem the attention It deserves, and
OF spending the requisite amount of
time and money in its prosecution.
Thus not only serving the miner, but
the farmer and the whole population
of the state. We have our wise leg
islators to thank, who was respons-
ible for the creation of the commits
sion and prevented its destruction
during the last session of the law
makers. The reports of the bureau
embraces a brief summary of the
existing knowledge concerning the
limestone deposits in Oregon, includ-
ing whatever information pretaining
to them, have been published in the
Mineral Resources Of Oregon, the Of
ficial publication Of the bureau, tC
which this report of the deposits OF
these counties are DaSeu.
The chief limestone deposits II
Jackson and Josephine counties oc
cur in four fairly we'll defined belts
having a general trend from south.
west to northeast They are as
rule elongated or lens-like mass
usually less than a mile in length
and but a few hundred feet in thick.
ness. The belts in which the lime
stone beds occur are given by j. S
Diller as follows:
The first belt of limestone includes
prominent ledge three miles south
east of Kirby, as we'll as several or
Cheney creek. The second belt ii
less regular. It extends from thu
vicinity Of Gold Hill on the main line
of the Southern Pacific Company
railway southwestern by the Ore
gon Bonanza mine to the we'll know
Oregon Caves, and beyond into Cali
fornia. The third belt, which ha
several readily accessible ledges oil
Kanes creek, appears to the south
west on Applegate river, on Steam
boat creek, and in the vicinity O
Whisky peak, where the belt enter'
California. The fourth belt appear'
on Little Applegate river, and pos
sibly also on Applegate river nea
Watkins, where prominent lime
stone lense occurs close to the mic'
schist, which it appears to overlie'
The chief limestone lenses OF tn
Gold Hill district, where the trans
portation question is settled, are a
follows:
On Kanes creek the limestone len