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of most of the best wells, as is particularly noticeable in Wood County.

The Trenton limestone is usually considered to include the Birdseye and Chazy limestones, which immediately underlie it, and are by some geologists described as independent deposits. Mr. W. M. Linney, of the Kentucky Geological Survey, has divided the Trenton limestone into the Upper Birdseye limestone, the Granular limestone, the Bluegrass beds and the Siliceous limestone. The Blue-grass beds, the most important, are separated from each other by sandy shales. The Upper Birdseye beds are identical with the dove-coloured Nashville limestone. Professor Lesley has pointed out that the composition of the Trenton limestone in Pennsylvania is only imperfectly known, and that it is not unreasonable to believe that a dolomitic change has occurred in it similar to that which has taken place in Ohio and Indiana. He is of opinion that no workable oil and gas supplies will be found in the Trenton limestone beneath any part of Pennsylvania, more especially in the south-eastern and central portions (loc. cit., p. 494). "Where the deposit crops out in the middle, southern, and eastern counties, it is but poor in animal and vegetable remains. In the southeastern and middle regions of Pennsylvania, the formation has been very much broken up, and thus rendered unsuited for retaining oil or gas. In the western and northern regions it lies from 10,000 to 20,000 feet below the surface, where the temperature is estimated at from 200° to 400° F. Attempts have been made in this State to obtain oil from the Trenton limestone, notably in Chester, Montgomery, Berks, Dauphin, Huntingdon, Pike, Susquehanna, and Erie Counties, but none have been successful. Several wells pierced the limestone in New York State, where the deposit is highly fossiliferous and almost horizontal, but no profitable yield has been obtained."

Further information regarding the Trenton limestone is given on

p. 73.

At Thorold and St. Catharine's, in Bertie County, Ontario, gas is obtained from the Trenton limestone, at depths of 2,394 feet (489 feet in the limestone) and 2,185 feet respectively. The area of the limestone drained by an average oil well, has been variously estimated at 10 or 20 acres, or, in the best sections of the Ohio fields, at as much as 50 acres. The total production per acre has been estimated at 2,000 to 2,500 barrels in average good territory, and 4,000 to 5,000 in the best land. Although probably no well has given as much as 10,000 barrels per day, Dr. Orton has pointed out that three or four have yielded 5,000 barrels daily for a time, and that about a score have given a total yield of 100,000 barrels.

PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW YORK.

This district has been conveniently divided, in the Eleventh Census Report of the United States, into the Bradford, Middle, Lower, and 1 A Summary Description of the Geology of Pennsylvania, 1892, vol. 1.

Washington or South-Western districts. The last named, though insignificant in 1885, has since become so productive as to be one of the most important of the Pennsylvanian fields, and contains the richest pools ever known in the State. One of these pools, that of Washington, yielded in 1889 nearly one-fifth of the production of Pennsylvania and New York, and was only surpassed by the Clarion and Butler and the Bradford districts.

The Bradford district (see Plate V.) lies chiefly in M'Kean County, but extends into New York State, and includes a pool lying in Carrolton Township, in Cattaraugus, the outlying district of Kinzua, in the south-west, and the Windfall-run field near Eldred. The oil from the Bradford district is amber, green, or black, and is usually heavier than that of the Lower field.

Dr. Ashburner estimated the area of the Bradford district at 135 square miles, and its total production up to January, 1885, at 109,000,000 barrels, an average of 820,000 barrels per square mile.1 Between 1876 and 1889 the Bradford district yielded, in the aggregate, over 5,000,000 barrels more than all the other fields combined (Carll). It is usually grouped with the Allegany district of New York, which has an estimated area of 31 square miles, and includes the Richburg and several smaller fields. Dr. Ashburner estimated that the Allegany field had yielded 419,000 barrels per square mile up to January, 1885.

The Middle field comprises the pools of Cherry Grove, Balltown and Cooper, Stoneham, Clarendon, Tiona, Kane, Grand Valley, and others in Warren and Forest Counties. The oil from the different pools varies considerably, but is generally described as "amber" oil. The Lower field includes a few fields in the south-west of Warren and the west of Forest County, and all the pools to the south, comprising those of Venango, Clarion, and Butler, the field on the Ohio River in Beaver County, and the fields of Lawrence County. The oil of the Venango division is obtained from the first, second, and third oil sands, and is generally green or black, but is occasionally amber in colour; it varies in density from 30° to 51° B. The Butler division includes Butler, Clarion, South-eastern Venango, and Armstrong Counties, while the Beaver division comprises the Slippery Rock and Smith's Ferry fields, which yield heavy oil from the Pottsville conglomerate, and amber oil from the Pithole grit. A well drilled at Thorn Creek, Butler, in 1884, is said to have produced for some hours at the rate of 9,000 to 10,000 barrels a day. Dr. Ashburner estimated the area of the Venango district at 65 square miles, and that of Butler at 76 square miles.

The important Smith's Ferry field of Beaver County extends over an area of about 2,500 acres into Columbian County, Ohio. In 1889 it produced 29,000 barrels of heavy, amber-coloured oil, yielding much lubricating oil. The celebrated "Heavy-Oil" district of Franklin, Venango, comprises a few square miles on French Creek, seven miles from Oil City. All the wells require to be pumped, but are long-lived, 1 Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., 1885, 419.

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Washington or South-Western districts. The last named, though insignificant in 1885, has since become so productive as to be one of the most important of the Pennsylvanian fields, and contains the richest pools ever known in the State. One of these pools, that of Washington, yielded in 1889 nearly one-fifth of the production of Pennsylvania and New York, and was only surpassed by the Clarion and Butler and the Bradford districts.

The Bradford district (see Plate V.) lies chiefly in M'Kean County, but extends into New York State, and includes a pool lying in Carrolton Township, in Cattaraugus, the outlying district of Kinzua, in the south-west, and the Windfall-run field near Eldred. The oil from the Bradford district is amber, green, or black, and is usually heavier than that of the Lower field.

Dr. Ashburner estimated the area of the Bradford district at 135 square miles, and its total production up to January, 1885, at 109,000,000 barrels, an average of 820,000 barrels per square mile.1 Between 1876 and 1889 the Bradford district yielded, in the aggregate, over 5,000,000 barrels more than all the other fields combined (Carll). It is usually grouped with the Allegany district of New York, which has an estimated area of 31 square miles, and includes the Richburg and several smaller fields. Dr. Ashburner estimated that the Allegany field had yielded 419,000 barrels per square mile up to January, 1885.

The Middle field comprises the pools of Cherry Grove, Balltown and Cooper, Stoneham, Clarendon, Tiona, Kane, Grand Valley, and others in Warren and Forest Counties. The oil from the different pools varies considerably, but is generally described as "amber" oil. The Lower field includes a few fields in the south-west of Warren and the west of Forest County, and all the pools to the south, comprising those of Venango, Clarion, and Butler, the field on the Ohio River in Beaver County, and the fields of Lawrence County. The oil of the Venango division is obtained from the first, second, and third oil sands, and is generally green or black, but is occasionally amber in colour; it varies in density from 30° to 51° B. The Butler division includes Butler, Clarion, South-eastern Venango, and Armstrong Counties, while the Beaver division comprises the Slippery Rock and Smith's Ferry fields, which yield heavy oil from the Pottsville conglomerate, and amber oil from the Pithole grit. A well drilled at Thorn Creek, Butler, in 1884, is said to have produced for some hours at the rate of 9,000 to 10,000 barrels a day. Dr. Ashburner estimated the area of the Venango district at 65 square miles, and that of Butler at 76 square miles.

The important Smith's Ferry field of Beaver County extends over an area of about 2,500 acres into Columbian County, Ohio. In 1889 it produced 29,000 barrels of heavy, amber-coloured oil, yielding much lubricating oil. The celebrated "Heavy-Oil" district of Franklin, Venango, comprises a few square miles on French Creek, seven miles from Oil City. All the wells require to be pumped, but are long-lived, 1 Trans. Am. Inst. Min. Eng., 1885, 419.

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