MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 37 



CEMENT 



Raw materials for cement manufacture are abundant and widely- 

 distributed. They support an active industry which, so far as 

 production is concerned, finds its limitations mainly in the com- 

 mercial relations that govern the distribution and sale of the product 

 in competition with the output of adjoining States. New York 

 is one of the largest markets for hydraulic cement in the country 

 and its consiimption in recent years, abnormally increased by the 

 extensive public improvements that have been carried out, has far 

 outstripped the local production capacity; there is keen competition 

 however, at all important centers with the product of mills in 

 adjoining areas and notably those of eastern Pennsylvania. Not- 

 withstanding the extensive demand, therefore, the prices obtained 

 for cement over a period of several years have not been favorable 

 enough to encourage many new additions to the list of cement 

 plants. 



Both natural and portland cements are made. The former 

 industry was first established in the State and during a period of 

 75 years or more it commanded a large and profitable trade. The 

 vicinity of Kingston was the principal center of natural cement 

 manufacture; the product of that region was marketed under the 

 trade name of Rosendale cement, recognized as the standard for 

 this grade all over the country. At the height of the industry 

 the output of natural cement in New York exceeded 4,000,000 

 barrels a year. Portland cement began to appear in the market 

 as a strong rival of natural cement in the closing years of the 19th 

 century, although it had been made here for some time and had been 

 imported from England for a still longer period. Improvements 

 in the process of manufacture had been worked out and put in 

 practice at about that time which so cheapened the costs that 

 Portland cement could be sold nearly on a parity with the natural 

 brand, while it also gained favor through its superior properties, 

 especially in regard to imiformity. From about the year 1900 the 

 natural cement business began to decline, and in the last few years 

 the output has dwindled to small proportions. 



PORTLAND CEMENT 



Resources of materials. The raw materials for portland cement 

 manufacture include limestone, clay or shale, and gypsum. Coal 

 for fuel is an essential of course whose cost must be taken into 

 account in the economics of plant locations, but the main con- 



