REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR I916 295 



western part between the Genesee and Niagara rivers, including 

 dolomite with minor beds of calcium limestones ; the Cayugan group 

 of the eastern and central parts; the Helderbergian limestones, 

 strongly represented in the Hudson valley from Albany county to 

 Ulster county, employed in portland cement manufacture, lime- 

 making and structural purposes ; the Onondaga limestone, developed 

 from the Niagara river across the State to Albany county and 

 thence through Greene, Ulster and Orange counties to the Delaware 

 river, probably the most extensively quarried of all; and the TuUy 

 limestone, a relatively thin formation extending from Ontario to 

 Madison county, used by the cement works at Portland Point on 

 Cayuga lake. In addition to the hard limestones there are beds of 

 marl or earthy carbonate of lime in many parts, particularly in the 

 lower ground which are or have been occupied by swamps and 

 lakes. 



As has been noted in a previous paragraph, limestone takes first 

 place among the kinds of stone represented in the production of the 

 State. In value it constitutes considerably more than one-half of 

 the total, although for some uses it ranks far inferior to other kinds. 

 Its main use is as crushed stone for concrete and road work ; mate- 

 rial for such purpose may be had from practically all the formations 

 that contain these rocks. It also finds extensive employment for 

 chemical and metallurgical purposes, serving as reagent in numerous 

 ways. Lime manufacture still holds a prominent place in the 

 industry, although it has felt the competition of cement and gypsum 

 plasters. Of late a growing demand has been felt for ground lime- 

 stone and for burnt lime in agriculture. As a building stone lime- 

 stone is of secondary importance. 



The production of limestone in 1916 increased somewhat, the 

 value $3,672,454 comparing with $3,177,700 in the preceding year, 

 which also was smaller than in 191 4. 



The output of crushed stone was returned as 3,612,177 tons, 

 valued at $2,085,748. Of this the quantity used for road purposes 

 was 1,566,530 tons, with a value of $903,350, that for railroad 

 ballast 891,118 tons valued at $494,858, and the quantity for con- 

 crete was 1,154,521 tons valued at $687,540. In 1915 the quantity 

 was reported in cubic yards, each cubic yard representing about one 

 and one-fourth tons, and the total for all kinds was 2,985,347 yards, 

 valued at $2,072,852. 



Building stone, rough and dressed, was returned at a value of 

 $59,492, against $63,121 in the preceding year. The decline was 



