1927 The Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide Page: 252
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252 THE TEXAS ALMANAC.
has been reported from several sections of
Texas, notably Fayette County.
POTASI.-An appropriation of $100,000
a year to cover a five-year period passed
by Congress and approved by the Presi-
dent in June, 1926, has greatly stimulat-
ed interest in potash deposits that are
known to exist in Texas. The Federal
appropriation will be used largely in
Western Texas, New Mexico and Utah.
Over a wide area of the Great Plains of
West and Northwest Texas there are de-
pendable evidences of potash deposits.
Scientific interest was first attracted by
the deep boring at Spur on the Swenson
holdings beginning in 1909, which brought
to the surface potash salts. Later devel-
opment of petroleum drilling in this ter-
ritory discovered many evidences of
potash in commercial quantities. In addi-
tion the salt beds of some of the lakes of
Terry and adjoining counties added to the
evidence that this great territory holds
possibly great potash deposits. This ter-
ritory, once the bed of a great sea, has
undergone changes which may easily
have deposited great quantities of potash.
The difficulty in ascertaining whether
potash really lies under the surface has
arisen from the lack of core drilled tests.
The material brought up from the stand-
ard or rotary rig used in petroleum drill-
ing, due to the use of water, can not be
readily analyzed. It is hoped that the
Federal appropriation v:iill discover pot-
ash in commercial quantities. Discovery
of large quantities of potash in Texas
nould add greatly to Texas mineral pro-
duction and be of value to the entire Na-
tion because the present supply of potash
for manufacture of fertilizers is imported
from Germany. Nitrate of potash has
been found in Brewster, Burnet and Llano
Counties, and potash is sound also in the
green sands of certain parts of Central
Texas, notably Bexar County, where some
attempts at development were being made
during 1926.
eTCKSILVER.-Texas ranks usually
second, but occasionally first, among the
States as producer of quicksilver, Cali-
fornia being the other large producer.
Texas quicksilver is taken from the cinna-
bar ores found in the southern part of
the Big Bend of the Rio Grande. Cinna-
bar ores are found chiefly in Brewster,
but to smaller extent in Presidio County.
The chief production is from the mine at
Terlingua, which is a short distance from
the Rio Grande and about seventy miles
from Alpine on the Southern Pacific, the
nearest railroad station. Production be-
gan on a small scale in this territory
shortly after the discovery of cinnabar ore
in 1894. Several different mines have
been worked and there is said to be a
large reserve of ores in this territory.
(See statistical tables.)
qU,_ARTZ.-Quartz findings have been
reported from Fayette, Llano, Marion, Gil-
lespie, Brewster and Presidio Counties.
RARE EARTHS AND RADIOACTIVE
MINERALS.-Rare earths, including Al-
lanite, Cryolite, Fergisonite, Gadolinite,
Tengerite, Thorogumite and Yttrialite, are
found in Barringer Hill on the west bank
of the Colorado River in Llano County,
and at a few other points in the central
mineral region. There has been some pro-
duction, largely to supply materials for
electric lamp manufacturing concerns, Anumber of these rare earths are radio-
active.
SAND AND GRAVEL.-Texas has inex-
haustible and widely distributed sand and
gravel resources and the great increase
in all kinds of construction work during
the last six or eight years has brought
about great increase in production. The
highway construction program of the
State has been facilitated by the general
availability of this material. The Texas
deposits of sand and gravel are usually
in the nature of river deposits of com-
paratively recent origin and are easily
accessible because of the light overbur-
den. Some of the sands of the State have
peculiar qualities, such as silica, which is
treated under a separate heading in this
chapter. (See statistical tables.)
SALT,-There are many valuable salt
deposits in Texas and there has for a
number of years been production on a
large commercial scale from the brines
at Grand Saline, in Van Zandt County,
and at Palestine in Anderson County.
Formerly there was a large salt manufac-
turing plant at Colorado in Mitchell
County. but this has not been worked in
recent years. During the latter part of
1926 a new salt plant was being installed
at Blue Ridge, about eighteen miles from
Houston. Salt has been produced on a
small seale from salines near Tyler in
Smith County and from salt deposits in
Ward, Hudspeth and Willacy Counties.
The salt resources of Texas are enor-
mous. They are composed primarily of
the great salt domes found throughout the
low coastal plains and East Texas and the
stratified salt deposits which underlie a
large part of West and Northwest Texas.
Petroleum wells drilled in West Texas
during recent years in 400 or more in-
stances have penetrated great strata of
salt varying in thickness from 250 to
1,000 feet. Deep wells drilled from the
surface of the Great Plains usually strike
salt at 1,000 to 2,000 feet, while wells
drilled at the foot of the plains below the
cap rock strike the salt stratum at 500 to
1,000 feet. The salt domes of the coastal
plain and East Texas are frequently with-
in 300 feet of the surface. (See statistical
tables.)
SHELL.-The shell of the shallow
coastal waters of Texas 'constitute a nat-
ural resource of appreciable value, and
there is a rapidly developing production
from Galveston, Sabine, Matagorda and
other bays along the Gulf front. The shell
is removed from the reefs by hydraulic
pumps and loaded into barges for delivery
at Houston, Galveston and other points
.where it is utilized for various purposes
but primarily for road surfacing, The
Portland cement plant at Houston also
uses shell in the manufacture of cement,
and there are other uses, including the
manufacture of poultry feedstuffs. Pro-
duction of shell from Texas coastal wa-
ters during the fiscal year ended Aug.
31, 1926, amounted to 1,951,834 cubic yards,
according to reports to the Texas Game,
Fish and Oyster Commission, which ad-
ministers the law relating to this indus-
try, and collects a tax upon shell, sand
and gravel removed from Gulf waters.
There was removed from the Gulf waters
90,107 cubic yards of gravel and,-463,673
cubic-yards of sand during the same year.
The shell is valued at about 75c a cubic
yard at the loading docks which would
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1927 The Texas Almanac and State Industrial Guide, book, 1927~; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth123785/m1/256/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.