l6 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



MANUFACTURE OF BUILDING BRICK 



The total number of common building brick made in New York 

 State last year was 1,066,982,000. This represented a large falling 

 off from the total reported for 1910 which amounted to 

 1,396,606,000, the actual decrease being 329,624,000 or 23 per cent. 

 The decline was attributable mainly to the dull conditions in the 

 building trades of the larger cities, notably of New York. The 

 brick yards along the Hudson river which depend almost solely 

 upon the New York City markets for their outlet were operated 

 on a much reduced scale, and their product showed a decrease of 

 nearly 300,000,000 for the year. 



The value of the common brick was $5,310,511, or an average 

 of $4.98 a thousand, as compared with $6,563,212, an average of 

 $4.70 a thousand, in 1910. The improved showing was due to the 

 slightly higher prices that were obtained by the manufacturers in 

 the Hudson river valley. In 1909 the average price was $5.31 a 

 thousand. These prices represented the average received at the 

 yards, not inclusive of carriage or selling commissions. 



In addition to the common building brick there were manufac- 

 tured last year 11,037,000 front brick with a value of $132,792. In 

 the preceding year the number of front brick made was 7,739,000 

 valued at $119,859. The aggregate output of brick for building 

 purposes was thus 1,078,019,000 valued at $5,443,303, against 

 1,404,345,000 valued at $6,683,071 in 19 10. The manufacture of 

 building brick was carried on in 31 counties by a total of 153 com- 

 panies or individuals. In 1909 there were 32 counties represented 

 in the list with a total of 172 producers. A tendency toward the 

 restriction of the industry to fewer plants and more tavorable 

 centralized localities has been in evidence for a number of years. 

 It is more apparent in contrasting the present situation with that 

 for example of 1906 when there were 213 active producers dis- 

 tributed over 37 counties- 



