34 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



general with the deposition of the accompanying shales and 

 limestones. The rock salt which occurs lower down in the 

 Salina is a product of similar conditions. Owing to the seem- 

 ingly abnormal position of the main gypsum beds with respect 

 to the salt and to the occurrence of irregular discontinuous 

 masses near the surface, the view has sometimes been taken 

 that the deposits represent former limestones which after their 

 uplift were altered to gypsum by underground circulations carry- 

 ing sulfuric acid. If this explanation were true the resources 

 might prove to be limited, since their existence would be depend- 

 ent upon purely local conditions. It is to be doubted, however, 

 if such methods of origin can be applied to the valuable beds 

 of rock gypsum. 



Up to the present time the deposits have been attacked only at 

 the more advantageous places on or near the outcrop. In the 

 eastern section where they are thickest open-cut operations are 

 the rule, while in Monroe county and farther west, they are 

 commonly worked underground either from an adit driven from 

 the face of a hill or by means of a vertical shaft, there has 

 been little systematic exploration, but the need of it nil come 

 with the progress of the industry, particularly in the western 

 counties which are the centers of plaster manufacture. The 

 report will contain maps and other matter to indicate the more 

 promising fields for future development. 



Review of mines and quarries. The canvass of the mining 

 and quarrying enterprises of the State, relative to the year 1908, 

 showed that conditions were less prosperous than in the few 

 years immediately preceding which were reviewed in former 

 reports. The total value of the mineral production, itemized 

 under 34 materials, was $29,519,785. The corresponding figures 

 for the year 1907 were $37,141,006, so that the decrease amounted 

 to about 20 per cent. The lessened activity was not, however 

 attributable to factors of local import, but to the wide-reaching 

 depression that affected all lines of business. An improvement 

 will doubtless be shown by the statistics for the current year 

 though the industry can hardly be expected to regaii fully its 

 former activity in so short a time. The iron mines perhaps suf- 

 fered most from the financial stress owing to the fact that many 

 of the properties were still in the developmental stage and without 

 the resources of established enterprises. 



The collection of the mineral statistics for the year was accom- 



