112 Bepoet of the State Geologist. 



Sand. 



Building sand of good quality is found at the pits north of Seneca 

 Falls, as previously described. It is said that still better is found 

 at Oaks Corners, Ontario county, where very large excavations 

 of 20 feet in depth have been made in the alluvial plain, east of 

 the New York Central station. In connection with the gravel pits 

 at West Junius there are sand deposits used for this purpose and 

 for plaster. For the high lands supplies of sand can be found in 

 the delta-terraces. That near the water's edge at Willard seems 

 to have been used for building within the Hospital grounds, 

 but at present it is found advantageous to draw the supplies 

 from a vast deposit at the lakeside, the sand bluffs at Long 

 Point, which lies opposite Willard. 



The very extensive deposits of buff sand which cover many 

 miles of land in Waterloo and Junius are not useful for mortar- 

 making. The sand is altogether too fine, and lacks "sharpness," 

 or the quality of setting quickly and strongly. It is used in 

 brick making for coating the inside of moulds. The sand is 

 ferruginous ; some of it is highly so, and v^ould bake to a deep 

 cherry red on the surface of the brick. The sand used for mak- 

 ing moulds by the iron founders at Geneva is brought from a 

 distance; that of the vicinity does not serve, although similar in 

 appearance — it does not hold together well. Lake sand is 

 dredged from the shallow water of the north end of the lake for 

 making cores for castings ; this v^ould also make a fair mason's 

 sand, though not quite coarse enough. 



Sandstone. 



The sandstone of the Portage group takes the form of slabs 

 or flags. Flagstone quarries have been largely developed, chiefly 

 on the eastern side, and have proved a source of considerable 

 profit in former time, though at present few are worked. 



The lower layers, up to at least 100 feet, are not worth work- 

 ing. This is obvious on inspecting the exposure at Lodi falls. 

 A quarry at 140 feet above the base of the formation was men- 

 tioned to me as giving stone of insufficient strength for bridges. 

 The disused quarries in Ovid village may be at even a lower 

 level. At Faucett's Point, 200 feet above the base of the forma- 



