74 NE W YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Production of sandstone. Sandstone, by reason of its adapt- 

 ability and its wide distribution, is extensively quarried in the State, 

 ranking next to limestone in commercial importance. The larger 

 part of the output is employed in street work in the form of curb- 

 stone, flagstone and paving blocks, but an important quantity is 

 also used as building stone. It finds very little application as 

 crushed stone on account of its platy fracture. 



The Devonic sandstones, which are collectively known as blue- 

 stone, are more widely quarried than the other kind ; this production 

 is carried on throughout the southern part of the State by a large 

 number of individuals and companies. With few exceptions, the 

 quarries are small, giving employment to only two or three work- 

 men each and having very little in the way of mechanical equip- 

 ment. Such small enterprises are particularly characteristic of the 

 Hudson River and Delaware River regions where much of the flag- 

 stone and curbstone is produced. Many of the quarries are worked 

 intermittently by farmers in the off season of their usual occupa- 

 tion. The stone is hauled down the hillside to the railroad sidings 

 or the river docks where it is purchased by middlemen who ship it 

 to the eastern markets. The stone from the Hudson River district 

 is mainly shipped by barges from Kingston and Saugerties. In 

 the interior it is shipped by rail. A statistical canvass of such small 

 enterprises is a matter of great difficulty and is likely to afford very 

 unreliable results. Consequently, it has been the practice in the 

 compilation of this report to secure the information so far as pos- 

 sible from dealers who purchase the stone for shipment to the large 

 wholesalers and consumers in the cities. 



The production of sandstone during the last two years is shown 

 in the accompanying tables which give its distribution also among 

 the leading districts. 



The combined value of all the sandstone quarried in 1914 was 

 $1,056,990, against $1,321,272 in 1913. The total is exclusive of 

 any sandstone quarried by contractors for use on the State highway 

 system, for which it is impossible to assign any accurate value. 



Of the value given, a little more than one-half was returned by 

 the quarry companies operating in the bluestone districts, in exact 

 figures $546,314. This indicated a marked decline of activity in 

 these districts as compared with the preceding year when the out- 

 put was valued at $753,510. There has been a falling off in the 

 bluestone industry for several years back, owing to the increasing 

 use of cement and concrete in street work. The value of the flag- 

 stone and curbstone made from blue stone was $337,488 against 



