46 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



INTRODUCTION 



The mineral resources of New York are the basis of a con- 

 stantly widening industrial activity. About 30 materials are now 

 commercially exploited, many of them on a large scale, giving the 

 State prominence for its varied and extensive mining industry. 

 While no systematic attempt has been made to ascertain the num- 

 ber of workings (mines, quarries and wells) that are engaged in 

 productive operations, the total may be safely estimated at over 

 10,000. The aggregate value of their output last year, according 

 to returns received at this office, amounted to $34,663,553. 



The valuation given is founded, for the most part, on products in 

 their first marketable forms, and though useful as a standard of 

 comparison it does not adequately represent the relative position 

 or importance of mining in the general economic development. 

 There are many varied industries established for the purpose of 

 elaborating such products by chemical, metallurgical or manufact- 

 uring processes, and their welfare is materially promoted by the 

 existence and utilization of the local resources. The reports of 

 the United States Census office for 1900 (the last year for which 

 data are available) state that the industries based primarily on 

 substances taken from mines and quarries contributed a produc- 

 tion in that year valued at $492,701,525, which placed New York 

 second among the states in this department of manufacturing. The 

 total was distributed among the different branches as follows: 

 chemicals and applied products, $58,870,609; clay, glass and stone 

 products, $42,594,874; iron and steel and their products, $157,- 

 050,481 ; metals and metallurgical products other than those of 

 iron and steel, $93,341,219; miscellaneous industries, $140,844,342. 

 The value of the products as above stated represented 22.6 per cent 

 of the aggregate reported for all manufactures in New York for 

 that year. It would be of interest to determine the proportion of 

 the products made from local materials, but unfortunately this 

 information can not be had from the reports. 



That the mining industry of the State is making good progress 

 is evidenced by the returns received for the last two years, which 

 are embodied in the following pages. The aggregate increase in 

 the values of the products reported last year over the correspond- 

 ing figures for 1904 amounted to $6,100,958, which is a gain of 

 21 per cent. Nearly all branches of the industry participated in 

 the advance, showing that it was rather the result of normal growth 

 than of any temporarily favorable conditions in individual lines. 



Among the more notable features of the record for 1905 was the 



