THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I909 "J 



The quarries of the State contributed material valued at $7,061,- 

 580. against $6,615,614 in the preceding year. The total was divided 

 according to the various uses into: building stone, $873,651 ; monu- 

 mental stone, $138,313; curb and flagstone, $800,620; crushed stone, 

 $3,214,374; other uses $2,034,622. The output of slate, millstones 

 and limestone used in making hydraulic cement is not included in 

 these totals. All kinds of stone, except marble, participated in the 

 increased activity, but limestone and trap furnished most of the gain 

 due to their extending application in road building. Important as 

 the quarry industries are, they still fall considerably short of sup- 

 plying the local requirements in building and ornamental stones. 



The hydraulic cement industries reported a product valued at 

 $2,122,902, a little less than in 1908 when the valuation was given 

 as $2,254,758. A decreased output was reported by the natural rock 

 plants, the total amounting to 549,364 barrels against 623,588 bar- 

 rels in 1908. That industry has shown a steady decline for a num- 

 ber of years past. The manufacture of portland cement, on the 

 ether hand, gained slightly with a product of 2,061,019 barrels 

 against 1,988,874 barrels in the preceding year. A considerable in- 

 crease in the production of this material may be expected for the 

 current year. 



From the salt mines and wells there was obtained a total of 9,880,- 

 618 barrels of salt valued at $2,298,652. The production was the 

 largest in the history of the salt industry and represented an increase 

 of nearly 10 per cent over the total for 1908 which was 9,005,311 

 barrels valued at $2,136,736. The gain was distributed between the 

 output of rock and brine salt, both classes showing about the same 

 proportionate increase. Onondaga county for the first time failed 

 to return the largest production and was outranked by Livingston 

 county which has been the center of the rock salt industry. Within 

 the last 25 years the State has increased its output by over 400 

 per cent. , ' ' ; 



The mines and quarries of gypsum reported an output of 378,232 

 short tons, which was also the largest ever recorded in Xew York- 

 State. The gain over the total of 318,046 short tons for [908 

 amounted to nearly 20 per cent. The value of the different gypsum 

 materials, including plaster of paris, wall plaster, and gypsum sold 

 in unburned condition was $907,601 against $760,759 in the pre- 

 ceding year. The important developments in the western counties 

 have been chiefly responsible for tne expansion of the industry which 

 has increased nearly tenfold in the last decade. 



