"THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY IQI2 45 
means comparable in their yield to some of the natural gas fields 
of Pennsylvania and Ohio, but they bear evidence of great persist- 
ence when once tapped, which is a very important feature. 
The production of the State is contributed by sixteen counties 
altogether, including Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Gen- 
esee, Livingston, Monroe, Niagara, Onondaga, Ontario, Oswego, 
Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Wyoming and Yates. These comprise 
the section west of the meridian of 77°, with an outlying area on 
the north and east near the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The 
existence of natural gas has been demonstrated for a number of 
- other counties, as far north as Jefferson and’as far east as Albany, 
but in too small quantity to have economic importance. 
The supply of natural gas is derived from several geologic 
horizons, from the Potsdam sandstone in the Cambric to the 
Chemung strata at the top of the Devonic. The more productive 
formations include the Trenton limestone of the Lower Siluric, 
the Medina sandstone of the Upper Siluric, and the Portage and 
Chemung shales with interbedded sandstones belonging to the Dev- 
onic. With few exceptions the gas pools now producing occur in 
one or another of these formations. 
The oil fields of Allegany and Cattaraugus counties have con- 
tributed, and still do contribute, considerable quantities of gas. The 
pools are found in sandstones at different horizons in the Devonic, 
such as the Bradford, Kane, and Elk “sands” of the Chemung. 
Some of the supply is consumed in the gas engines for pumping the 
- oil, and the remainder is used for lighting and heating in the local 
towns or is piped to Buffalo. The distribution of the gas is mainly 
in the control of a few companies, like the Empire Gas & Fuel Co., 
of Wellsville, the Producers Gas Co., of Olean, and the United 
Natural Gas Co., of Oil City, Pa. Some of the local towns supplied 
from the fields are Olean, Andover, Wellsville, Friendship, Hornell 
and Geneseo. In the northwestern part of Cattaraugus county there 
is a small field of which Gowanda is the center and which extends 
across the border into Erie county. The gas is said to occur in the 
Marcellus and Onondaga formations of the Middle Devonic. The 
output is distributed by the Gowanda Gas Co. for use in Gowanda. 
Explorations have been under way recently in northern Cattaraugus 
county between Gowanda and Cattaraugus where pools are reported 
at depths from 2500 to 3300 feet in what is supposed to be the 
Medina sandstone. 
