THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY 191 1 49 



cubic feet valued at $813,279. There were 342 productive wells in 

 the two counties. , 



The production given under Allegany and Cattaraugus counties 

 included mainly the gas collected from oil wells, # but there was a 

 small output also from fields in the northern parts of the two 

 counties where no oil is produced. The combined output taken 

 from the reports of the pipe-line companies and the individual pro- 

 ducers amounted last year to 1,600,317,000 cubic feet valued at 

 $402,931, from a total of 766 wells. 



The wells in Chautauqua county made an output of 804,713,000 

 cubic feet valued at $222,023. The principal part of the supply 

 came from the deep wells which have been put down in the last 

 few years in the belt along Lake Erie. 



Genesee county has shown the largest relative increase in pro- 

 duction during the past years, but the figures are included with 

 those of Erie county. 



PETROLEUM 



The anticipated effects of the recent decline in crude oil prices 

 were very manifest during 191 1, at least in the New York field. 

 There was less activity in exploration than for many years and 

 with the comparatively poor record of new drilling in 1910, the 

 productive conditions were most unfavorable. The maintenance 

 of the local industry for a long time has been the small increments 

 of yield obtained by redrilling old territory, for which the main 

 incentive existed in the high market value of the local product. 

 The recent decline, amounting to over 50 cents a barrel, practically 

 put an end to such developments. 



The total production in 191 1, as reported by the pipe-line com- 

 panies operating in the New York oil region, amounted to 915,314 

 barrels. The total for the preceding year was 1,073,650 barrels, 

 showing a falling off of 158,336 barrels, or 15 per cent. The 

 output in 1909, which was a year of good prices on the whole, 

 amounted to 1,160,402 barrels. The value of the product last year 

 was $1,198,868, or an average of $1.31 a barrel, against $1,458,194, 

 an average of $1.36 in 1910, and $1,914,663, an average of $1.65 

 in 1909. 



The production of oil during the last two decades is shown in 

 the accompanying table. The figures for the years 1892-1903 have 

 been compiled from the annual volumes of the Mineral Resources, 



