THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I9I3 7 



The stone products, inclusive of granite, limestone, marble, sand- 

 stone and trap, were valued at $6,763,054, a gain of about 11 per 

 cent in the total for the 3^ear. There was a decline in the value of 

 the building stone quarried, and also of the monumental material, 

 but a gain in the production of crushed stone, paving blocks and 

 other materials used in street work. More than one-half of the 

 total was contributed by the limestone quarries. 



One of the historic industries of the State is that based on the salt 

 deposits which were the object of enterprise in colo-nial times and 

 have contributed steadily for more than a century. Complete rec- 

 ords of the production are available from the year 1797 to date. In 

 1913 the output amounted to 10,819,521 barrels with a value of $2,- 

 856,664, which was in excess of the quantity reported m any pre- 

 vious year. 



An output of 532,884 tons of gypsum set a new figure also for 

 that material which has been of steadily increasing importance in 

 the local mining field. The product is mainly employed for the 

 manufacture of stucco and wall plasters, but has application also in 

 agriculture and cement manufacture. The value of the output was 

 $1,306,143. 



Natural gas showed one of the largest gains recorded for the 

 year; the quantity produced was 9,155,429,000 cubic feet valued at 

 $2,549,227, or a gain of nearly 40 per cent which may be considered 

 remarkable in view of the long-continued development of the local 

 field. Petroleum, the only other mineral fuel that occurs in work- 

 able quantity in New York State, was produced in Allegany and 

 Cattaraugus counties to the extent of 916,873 barrels with a value 

 of $2,255,508. In respect to prices, the year was a notable one, as 

 the prices for crude oil averaged nearly $2.50 a barrel for the whole 

 twelve months, but the quantity was below the usual figure. 



Among the other branches of the mineral industry that shared in 

 the year's returns were those of talc, graphite, garnet, pyrite, slate, 

 mineral paints, mineral waters, emery, feldspar, molding and build- 

 ing sand, sand-lime brick, diatomaceous earth, marl, apatite, and 

 mica. Talc ranks as one of the more important of these, with an 

 output of 63,000 short tons valued at $551,250, mostly from mines 

 in St Lawrence county. Garnet for abrasive uses comes from 

 Essex and Warren counties and the product last year amounted to 

 4665 short tons with a value of $145,445. Pyrite for acid manufac- 

 ture is mined in St Lawrence county ; graphite of the finest crystal- 

 line grade is obtained in Essex county ; and feldspar for pottery and 



