THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I915 9 



fairly active, but prices were so low as to afford little profit to 

 makers. The output of portland cement amounted to 5,219,460 

 barrels valued at $4,175,528, against 5,667,728 barrels with a value 

 of $5,088,677 in 1914. Natural cement did not vary much from 

 the previous year's total, having been 223,564 barrels worth 

 $134,138, against 232,076 barrels worth $115,117 in 1914. 



There was a big decrease in stone products which was dis- 

 tributed among practically all branches of the quarry industry. 

 The value of the entire output was $5,162,115 against $5,741,137 

 in the preceding year. The completion of some of the large engi- 

 neering contracts on the canal and road systems of the State ac- 

 counted in a measure for the decrease, although construction work 

 in general was not so active as ordinarily. The granite quarries 

 made the best showing and there is prospect of additional quarries 

 being opened during the current year. 



The salt mines and wells reported a record yield of 11,095,301 

 barrels, which exceeded the largest previous total — that for 1913 

 — by about 275,000 barrels. The value was reported as $3,011,932. 

 In 1914 the output was 10,389,072 barrels valued at $2,835,706. 



In the gypsum industry no material change took place and the 

 output of 516,002 tons was practically the same as reported in the 

 preceding year. The value of the products sold by the mining com- 

 panies was $1,261,200 as compared with $1,247,404 in 19 14. 



The natural gas industry which had increased largely in recent 

 years showed a considerable decline in the past season for which 

 the flow amounted to 7,110,040,000 cubic feet against 8,714,681,000 

 cubic feet in 19 14. The falling off was mainly in Erie county, 

 where no new discoveries have been made recently that suffice to 

 counterbalance the declining yield of the old wells. The value of 

 the gas sold was $2,085,324, against a value of $2,570,165 reported 

 for 1914. The oil wells of Allegany, Cattaraugus and Steuben 

 counties contributed a total of 928,540 barrels as compared Avith 

 933,511 barrels in the preceding year. Prices showed an upv/ard 

 turn after a precipitate decline of over $1 a barrel, but the change 

 was too late to show itself in the value which amounted to 

 $1,476,378 against $1,773,671 in 1914. 



Among the other branches of the mineral industry that shared in 

 the activities were those of talc, graphite, garnet, pyrite, slate, 

 mineral paints, mineral waters, emery, feldspar, quartz, molding 

 and building sand, sand-lime brick, marl and zinc ore. One of the 

 few of these that experienced an enlarged demand for its products 



