290 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



table, was 4,331,603 short tons. In the preceding year the com- 

 pilation was based on cubic yards, of which the reported quantity 

 was 4,127,508, equivalent to about 5,000,000 tons. The drop in the 

 production thus shown was owing to the dulness of the building 

 trade, a condition that obtained all over the State as the result of the 

 general situation brought on by the war. Nassau county, from 

 which the New York market derives its supply, produced 3,044,359 

 tons valued at $578,945. The industry there is controlled by a few 

 corporations who dredge the sand from shallow waters or excavate 

 it by steam shovels from the exposed beaches. The sand is screened 

 and loaded onto barges for shipment. 



The output of molding and core sand in 1916 was 661,673 short 

 tons valued at $570,898, against 454,511 short tons worth $415,073 

 in the preceding year, The business experienced a decided improve- 

 ment, compared with the conditions in 191 5, from the extraordinary 

 activity in the metal industries. Most of the molding sand comes 

 from the Hudson valley, from Rensselaer and Saratoga counties on 

 the north to Dutchess and Ulster counties on the south. The material 

 represents a special form of the fine sands, which with the brick 

 clays, were laid down in the expanded waters that occupied the 

 valley at the close of the ice invasion. The molding sand layer 

 consists of the uppermost weathered layer from a few inches to 

 several feet thick. 



Among other kinds of sand that were produced in the State may 

 be mentioned abrasive and grinding sand, 169,737 short tons, 

 valued at $46,900; fire or furnace sand, of which the output 

 amounted to 38,144 short tons, valued at $16,430; engine sand, 

 66,497 short tons, valued at $30,144; paving sand, 83,671 short 

 tons, valued at $29,282; and various other uses 17,862 short tons, 

 valued at $5,325. 



The production of gravel for roofing, concrete and other uses 

 amounted to 2,728,910 short tons, of a total value of $1,003,966. 



STONE 



The stone industry has for many years occupied a prominent 

 place among the branches of the mineral industry of the State. Its 

 growth was particularly rapid in the decade from 1890 to 1900, 

 which was a period of remarkable advancement in all kinds of 

 engineering work. At about the latter date, however, certain 

 changes began to be introduced in the methods of building and 



