66 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Building stone. A further decline in the output of dimension 

 stone is noted for 1915. The reported value of $63,121 was smaller 

 than for any year previously covered by detailed statistics and 

 represented about one-third of the value of such stone quarried 

 10 years ago. The decline can be traced largely to the change that 

 has taken place in methods of building construction, whereby such 

 materials as concrete, tile and terra cotta are substituted for cut 

 stone. Artificial stone which produces the effect of the natural 

 material is also now coming into use. It is made usually from 

 selected aggregates like crushed pegmatite, marble, etc. with a" 

 minimum of cement as binder, and being formed in molds is given 

 any desired shape without the expense of cutting. 



Furnace flux. The metallurgical establishments of the State, 

 notably iron and steel works, consume large quantities of fluxing 

 limestone, which is obtained largely from local sources. Calcium 

 limestones are mainly used, and the principal requisite is that they 

 contain little of siliceous or aluminous impurities, and be free of 

 phosphorus and sulphur. The larger flux quarries are in the Onon- 

 daga limestone of Erie and Genesee counties ; the Clinton limestone 

 of Niagara county, the Chazy limestone of Clinton county ; and the 

 Precambric crystalline limestones of the Adirondack region. The 

 production of flux in 191 5 was 822,729 short tons, valued at $440,- 

 237, a slight increase in quantity but a decrease in value as com- 

 pared with the output for the preceding year. Niagara and Erie 

 counties lead in this branch of the industry. 



Agricultural lime. The sales of lime for agricultural use have 

 become in the last few years an important factor in the quarry 

 business. The actual quantities thus marketed are not stated 

 separately in the tables, for the reason that many of the quarries 

 have no record of the amount that is so used. Some of the material 

 that finds employment as land amendment is really a by-product of 

 which little account is taken, as in the case of the fines and dust 

 of the crushing plants which are sometimes marketed, and also the 

 inferior grades of burnt lime. It is estimated that over 100,000 tons 

 of agricultural limestone in crushed or calcined state were sold 

 last year by the quarries of the State. 



The possibilities of the trade have received much attention in the 

 last few years, and quarry lands favorably situated with respect to 

 markets have been in request. Inasmuch as the material must be 

 delivered to the consumer at a low cost to make it economically 

 available, the tendency is to develop local sources of supply in so 

 far as thev are at hand. 



