Having blasted the rock, the first process of extraction is termed "cobbing," which means breaking off the adhering serpentine from the Asbestos vein, this being manual work done by boys. The fibre is packed in sacks, each weighing 100 lbs., and in some cases 200 lbs. are shipped by the local railroad company to Montreal or New York at something about 10 cents and 20 cents per sack. Asbestos is sorted into three qualities, and priced thus:-- 1st quality, selling at mine $80 to $200, per ton of 2,000 lbs. 2nd " " " 60 " 70, " " " 3rd " " " 25 " 50, " " " Some inferior quality, at a very low price, is used by the Asbestos Mining and Manufacturing Company of Quebec. The workmen are principally French Canadians belonging to the neighbouring villages, and the wages paid them are-- Miners (without board), $0.90 (3/9) to $1.25 (5/2), per day. Pickers and cobbers, $0.40 (1/8) " $0.70 (2/11), " The cost of extraction is taken from $20 to $25 per ton; this includes local administrations and all other expenses connected with the mine, and with the adoption of machinery and the use of air-compressed drills the cost of actual mining will be reduced to at least 30 per cent.; so taking an average price of about $70 per ton, a net profit of from £8 to £9, or $45, is obtainable per ton of raw material. In 1886 the total amount of Asbestos, taken from all the mines, may be estimated at 1,500 tons, and of the amount returned last year (1888), all but 400 tons were from the Quebec province mines, and of these Thetford turned out 2,560 tons, and Black Lake 950, or together three-fourths of the whole out-put. The 400 tons were from Bridgewater, in the province of Ontario, a somewhat different class of mineral, which is generally used in the manufacture of fire-proof roofing.