THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I909 1 5 



In the Catskills and the southern tier of counties we have a 

 series of bedded formations which most closely approximate in 

 period of deposition the Appalachian coal measures that are so pro- 

 ductive in Ohio, Pennsylvania and the states to the south. Yet they 

 all were laid down before the opening of the coal-making period 

 proper, as shown by the respective stages of life development evi- 

 denced in the rocks. 



The northern limits of the Appalachian fields geographically ap- 

 proach within such short distance of the New York boundary that 

 some excuse existed for the search for coal before the time of geo- 

 logical surveys ; now it can only be a matter of regret that the bound- 

 ary should have been so discriminately fixed, when the addition of 

 only a few minutes of latitude on the south would have brought 

 portions of this wealth into the State. 



Though deficient in coal some of the local formations contain val- 

 uable oil and gas pools which support a fairly important productive 

 industry. The discovery of illuminating gas in the State dates back 

 to as far at least as 1821 when wells were drilled at Fredonia, Chau- 

 tauqua co., probably the first successful attempt to utilize the mate- 

 rial in this country. There are now more than 1000 wells that 

 supply natural gas for fuel and lighting purposes besides many more 

 whose output is consumed on the ground for pumping oil. The 

 petroleum industry was first started about 1865 in Cattaraugus 

 county and is now represented by fully 10,000 active wells. 



There is thus a solid basis for exploration and development of 

 these resources and it is creditable to local enterprise that they 

 have' been brought to such a high state of productivity. The prac- 

 tical oil and gas prospector with his knowledge that comes from 

 accumulated experience has been the chief factor in this achieve- 

 ment. Scientific study of the accumulations of oil and gas has 

 yielded, however, some valuable information, though for the most 

 part perhaps its data have only an indirect or negative application 

 to field exploration. It may and often does help to establish the 

 limit within which drilling operations should be conducted ; it pro- 

 vides the means for identifying the productive strata and for tracing 

 their bounds ; and from the structure of the formations may point 

 out the more promising places for exploration. 



Both the results of such study and past experience show that 

 only a part of the State can be considered as a profitable field for 

 exploration. The areas comprised within the Adirondacks and the 

 Highlands are of course absolutely barren territory, as they are 



