﻿PREFACE 
  

  

  This 
  bulletin 
  was 
  prepared 
  at 
  the 
  request 
  of 
  the 
  chairman 
  of 
  the 
  state 
  

   museum 
  committee 
  for 
  a 
  report 
  on 
  the 
  road 
  materials 
  of 
  New 
  York. 
  

   Having 
  ascertained 
  what 
  might 
  be 
  worth 
  publishing 
  on 
  this 
  subject, 
  it 
  

   appeared 
  desirable 
  to 
  add 
  a 
  short 
  discussion 
  on 
  the 
  road 
  problem 
  in 
  our 
  

   state. 
  

  

  It 
  has 
  been 
  the 
  writer's 
  aim 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  pamphlet 
  as 
  brief 
  as 
  possible 
  

   and 
  therefore 
  easily 
  read. 
  He 
  has 
  endeavored 
  to 
  discuss 
  concisely 
  what 
  

   appeared 
  to 
  him 
  the 
  salient 
  points 
  of 
  the 
  problem, 
  and 
  his 
  purpose 
  has 
  

   been 
  rather 
  to 
  bring 
  to 
  public 
  attention, 
  facts 
  not 
  generally 
  appreciated 
  

   than 
  to 
  discuss 
  matters 
  of 
  common 
  knowledge. 
  

  

  In 
  preparing 
  this 
  report 
  the 
  writer 
  has 
  communicated 
  with 
  about 
  two 
  

   thousand 
  quarrymen, 
  and 
  has 
  acquired 
  much 
  information 
  concerning 
  local 
  

   variations 
  in 
  rock 
  used 
  as 
  road 
  metal, 
  but 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  pertinent 
  to 
  

   this 
  preliminary 
  publication 
  to 
  discuss 
  details 
  which 
  might 
  obscure 
  the 
  

   main 
  points. 
  It 
  seems 
  also 
  inadvisable 
  to 
  pubhsh 
  statements 
  which 
  dis- 
  

   criminate 
  between 
  the 
  products 
  of 
  various 
  quarries 
  until 
  further 
  study 
  

   has 
  estabhshed 
  their 
  correctness 
  beyond 
  all 
  possibility 
  of 
  criticism. 
  

   These 
  details 
  are 
  therefore 
  reserved 
  for 
  future 
  pubHcation. 
  

  

  The 
  report 
  of 
  the 
  special 
  committee 
  on 
  good 
  roads, 
  transmitted 
  to 
  the 
  

   legislature 
  Jan. 
  14, 
  1896, 
  is 
  recommended 
  to 
  the 
  attention 
  of 
  all 
  who 
  

   wish 
  to 
  inform 
  themselves 
  on 
  the 
  details 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  situation 
  in 
  New 
  

   York, 
  Massachusetts, 
  Connecticut 
  and 
  oth^r 
  states. 
  

  

  Attention 
  is 
  also 
  called 
  to 
  the 
  publications 
  of 
  the 
  Bureau 
  of 
  Road 
  

   Inquiry 
  of 
  the 
  U. 
  S. 
  Dept. 
  of 
  Agriculture. 
  

  

  It 
  being 
  impossible 
  with 
  the 
  museum 
  funds 
  at 
  hand 
  to 
  erect 
  a 
  labora- 
  

   tory 
  for 
  the 
  testing 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  road 
  materials, 
  the 
  writer 
  applied 
  for 
  

   assistance 
  to 
  the 
  Massachusetts 
  Highway 
  Commission, 
  which 
  courteously 
  

   and 
  generously 
  agreed 
  to 
  test 
  some 
  representative 
  samples 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  

   road 
  material. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  following 
  pages 
  the 
  Massachusetts 
  Commission 
  has 
  been 
  quoted 
  

   exclusively, 
  not 
  from 
  a 
  desire 
  to 
  ignore 
  the 
  work 
  in 
  other 
  states, 
  such 
  as 
  

   New 
  Jersey 
  and 
  Connecticut, 
  but 
  because 
  the 
  problems 
  in 
  Massachusetts 
  

   are 
  similar 
  to 
  those 
  in 
  New 
  York, 
  and 
  the 
  Commission 
  in 
  question 
  

   seemed 
  to 
  have 
  studied 
  and 
  reported 
  on 
  the 
  situation 
  it 
  had 
  to 
  deal 
  with 
  

   in 
  a 
  more 
  detailed 
  and 
  exhaustive 
  way. 
  

  

  To 
  Prof. 
  N. 
  S. 
  Shaler 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  Highway 
  Commissioners 
  of 
  

   Massachusetts, 
  the 
  writer 
  desires 
  to 
  express 
  his 
  deep 
  obligations 
  for 
  many 
  

   favors 
  received. 
  

  

  FREDERICK 
  J. 
  H. 
  MERRILL 
  

  

  Albany 
  y 
  Sept. 
  i, 
  1897 
  

  

  