Limestones. Ill 



small proportion of waste rock and the natural facilities for economi- 

 cal working out heavy stone are advantages of this quarry. 



Quarry of Richmond & Bullock. — This quarry is in the north 

 face of a natural escarpment, one mile east of Canajoharie, and at the 

 side of the canal and the West Shore railroad. It was opened the 

 present season (1887). The bluff is nearly vertical for 70 feet, up 

 from the Mohawk flats, and then it slopes steeply for 30 feet to the 

 top. The upper part of the bluff is now being cleared off to the 

 rock, and preparations are being made to quarry the beds from near 

 the tcp, down for a distance of 25 to 30 feet, and to a level which is 

 60 feet above the valley. These top courses of stone are thin and 

 are blue limestone, which dips gently south-west. The main system 

 of joints runs vertically, in a south-west direction at intervals of 10 to 

 12 feet. One derrick is placed on the upper level and a second one 

 stands at the side of the railroad track. An iron-shod chute allows 

 the stone to be sent down to the track level. Near the foot of the 

 bluff there is a ledge of fine-grained, reddish-colored rock, which is 

 hard, and capable of polish, and which appears to be adapted to 

 ornamental work. As it is siliceous it will resist weathering better 

 than the limestone. 



The Canajoharie quarries are in the Calciferous formation, and that 

 of Richmond & Bullock is near the bottom and lower, geologically 

 than the quarries in the town. 



Fort Plain, Montgomery County. — The Birdseye limestone was 

 formerly quarried quite extensively at this place, for local market. 

 A small quarry at the north side of the New York Central railroad 

 track, and about 100 yards east of the station, is the only one now in 

 operation. The beds are thin and are dipping gently, south-east. 



Palatine Bridge, Montgomery County. — There are two quar- 

 ries in the limestone at Palatine Bridge, on the north side of the Mo- 

 hawk river. The westernmost quarry is that of S. L. & A. B. Frey. 

 It is north of the Central railroad tracks about 20 rods, and little 

 further from the Frey mansion. It was opened three years ago. 

 Nearly a half an acre of territory has been worked over in the excava- 

 tion. The covering of boulder earth on the stone is from a thin soil 

 layer to six feet in thickness. The stone is a blue limestone, but there 

 is much variation from bed to bed, and some of the beds are quite 

 sandy. At the bottom there is a thick bed of gray limestone, which 



