14 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Broome counties the demand for stonecutters is greater than 

 the supply this year. 



The quarrymen seldom own the land on which the quarry is 

 situated, but lease it at a rental proportionate to the amount 

 -of stone taken out. In Ulster county the usual rental is 5^ of 

 the value of the stone quarried. In Delaware and Broome 

 counties the rental varies from Jc to Ic a foot of the product, 

 according to the location of the quarry. This '^ per foot " applies 

 to the stone as sold, that is, if the stone is sold per linear foot, 

 the rental is ^c per linear foot; if sold per square foot, the 

 rental is ^c per square foot. This is hard on the flagstone quar- 

 ries, as the price of flag ranges from 5c to 8c a square foot, but 

 for quarries producing edge stone, the rental is much less, as 

 curb is sold for 16c a foot. The charge of 5^ appears to be a 

 much fairer way of renting. 



In Ulster county the larger quarries are in many cases owned 

 by the dealers, but in only a few cases are the dealers operating 

 the quarries. They prefer to rent them on a percentage basis. 

 They own the ledges in order to control the output of the stone. 



Transportation 



The stone is hauled by two, three and four horse teams to 

 the docks or railroad switches. Only at Rock Bift and Portage- 

 Tille do the railroad switches run into the quarries. In Ulster 

 county very little stone is shipped by way of the Ulster and 

 Delaware railroad from Broadhead's Bridge to Kingston. The 

 freight rate is higher than the cost by wagon. 



The wagons in use hold from 8 to 10 tons of rock. A great 

 proportion of these wagons are now equipped with wide tires; 

 in fact, some towns have local legislation requiring wide tires 

 •on wagons weighing over a certain amount. The main quarry 

 roads are often " bridged " with bluestone. " Bridging " con- 

 sists of thick stone laid as a track for the wheels of a wagon. 

 This " bridge " is 20 inches wide and 4 inches to 6 inches thick. 

 It does not take long for wagons to wear deep ruts in the bridge. 



