﻿194 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  is 
  less 
  good 
  building 
  stone 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  Portage 
  horizon. 
  The 
  

   variation 
  in 
  color 
  and 
  texture 
  is 
  necessarily 
  great 
  in 
  the 
  extensive 
  

   area 
  occupied 
  by 
  the 
  Chemung 
  rocks, 
  but 
  the 
  sandstones 
  can 
  be 
  

   described 
  as 
  thin 
  bedded, 
  generally 
  intercalated 
  with 
  shaly 
  strata, 
  

   and 
  of 
  a 
  light-gray 
  color, 
  often 
  with 
  a 
  tinge 
  of 
  green 
  or 
  olive- 
  

   colored. 
  The 
  outcropping 
  ledges 
  weather 
  to 
  a 
  brownish 
  color. 
  

   Owing 
  to 
  the 
  shaly 
  nature 
  of 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  sandstone 
  of 
  the 
  Che- 
  

   mung 
  group, 
  the 
  selection 
  of 
  stone 
  demands 
  care, 
  and 
  the 
  location 
  

   of 
  quarries 
  where 
  good 
  stone 
  may 
  be 
  found 
  is 
  attended 
  with 
  the 
  

   outlay 
  of 
  time 
  and 
  money, 
  and 
  with 
  great 
  chances 
  of 
  possible 
  fail- 
  

   ure. 
  Quarries 
  have 
  been 
  opened 
  near 
  the 
  towns 
  and 
  where 
  there 
  

   is 
  a 
  market 
  for 
  ordinary 
  grades 
  of 
  common 
  wall 
  stone, 
  and 
  also 
  for 
  

   cut 
  stone, 
  but 
  the 
  larger 
  part 
  of 
  their 
  product 
  is 
  put 
  into 
  retaining 
  

   walls. 
  At 
  Elmira 
  and 
  Corning 
  good 
  stone 
  has 
  been 
  obtained, 
  

   which 
  is 
  expensive 
  to 
  dress, 
  and 
  does 
  not 
  compete 
  for 
  fine 
  work 
  

   with 
  sandstones 
  from 
  districts 
  outside 
  of 
  the 
  State. 
  The 
  quarries 
  

   at 
  Waverly, 
  Owego, 
  Elmira 
  and 
  Corning, 
  and 
  nearly 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  

   quarries 
  in 
  Allegany, 
  Cattaraugus 
  and 
  Chautauqua 
  counties 
  are 
  

   in 
  the 
  Chemung 
  sandstone. 
  

  

  Catskill 
  group 
  

  

  As 
  implied 
  in 
  the 
  name, 
  this 
  formation 
  is 
  developed 
  in 
  the 
  Cat- 
  

   skill 
  mountain 
  plateau 
  in 
  the 
  eastern 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  state. 
  Sand- 
  

   stones 
  and 
  silicious 
  conglomerates 
  predominate 
  over 
  the 
  shales. 
  

   The 
  thicker 
  beds 
  of 
  sandstones 
  are 
  generally 
  marked 
  by 
  oblique 
  

   lamination 
  and 
  cross-bedding, 
  which 
  make 
  it 
  difficult 
  and 
  expen- 
  

   sive 
  to 
  work 
  into 
  dimension 
  blocks. 
  Except 
  for 
  flagging 
  and 
  for 
  

   local 
  use 
  but 
  little 
  is 
  quarried. 
  There 
  are 
  no 
  large 
  towns 
  in 
  the 
  

   district, 
  and 
  consequently 
  the 
  demand 
  is 
  light. 
  There 
  are, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  some 
  good 
  quarries, 
  which 
  are 
  worked 
  for 
  flagging, 
  chiefly 
  

   along 
  the 
  New 
  York, 
  Ontario 
  and 
  Western 
  railroad 
  and 
  the 
  Ulster 
  

   and 
  Delaware 
  railroad 
  lines 
  in 
  Ulster 
  and 
  Delaware 
  counties 
  ; 
  and 
  

   in 
  the 
  Catskills, 
  in 
  Greene 
  county, 
  there 
  are 
  quarries 
  in 
  Lexington, 
  

   Jewett, 
  Windham, 
  Hunter 
  and 
  Prattsville. 
  

  

  