268 BULLETIN OF THE NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



workable quarry beds. A large number of quarries have 

 been opened, and at many places the valuable stone has 

 been removed and the quarries abandoned. At other lo- 

 calities the thickness of the overlying earth and the long 

 distance from transportation lines have prevented their 

 further development. The tendency of later years has 

 been to open quarries nearer the lines of railroad, and to 

 leave localities more distant, so that the number of quarries 

 in the territory adjacent to the Ulster and Delaware road 

 has been greatly increased. The aggregate output of this 

 part of the territory has not materially increased within the 

 last few years, in consequence of the abandonment of many 

 quarries and the restrictions placed upon the quarry indus- 

 try by the business relations to which it is subject. 



The quarry beds range from an inch to three feet and, in 

 some instances, up to six feet in thickness. The top beds 

 are generally thin. In most cases these thick strata can be 

 split along planes parallel to the bedding and the cap- 

 layer is raised by means of wedges. The size of blocks ob- 

 tained is determined by the natural joints which divide the 

 stone vertically. Stones sixty feet by twenty feet have thus 

 been lifted from a bed. The facilities for handling and lift- 

 ing really limit the size. The thicker stone are cut into 

 curbing, crosswalk and sidewalk stones and large platforms, 

 yielding what is known as flag-stone. The thinner beds 

 furnish flagging for towns and villages. A part of the 

 thinner stone is cut into dimension work for water-tables, 

 sills, lintels, posts and window-caps or house trimmings in 

 general. 



"The stone obtained in these several districts varies in 

 color, hardness and, texture and consequently in value, from 

 quarry to quarry, and even in the same quarry. In nearly 

 all of the localities the beds vary a little from top down- 

 wards ; rarely is there much variation horizontally, or in the 

 same bed. Hence, any given bed may be said to have a 

 certain character, that is, produces a given grade of stone. 



