THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY 1915 33 



cement. Some of the product in former years was converted into 

 stucco; the rock is said to make a good strong plaster but rather 

 dark in color, a feature that can be corrected to some extent by 

 admixing with the lighter plasters of other districts. The gypsum 

 occurs in several layers which vary somewhat in purity, color and 

 grain. It is worked mainly by open-cut or quarry methods, opera- 

 tions being restricted to points where the overburden is relatively 

 light. 



The Union Springs district, Cayuga county, contains gypsum 

 deposits of similar nature to those in Onondaga county and from 

 20 to 30 feet thick. They were worked very actively at one time 

 for agricultural plaster, but in recent years have been operated 

 intermittently and then only in a small way. 



Gypsum beds appear in Seneca and Wayne counties, but no rock 

 has been mined there in many years. In Ontario county, near 

 Victor, is an old quarry which yielded a very fair quality of gypsum. 

 Drill cores from the vicinity indicate the presence of two beds, of 

 which the lower one is 6 feet thick and light in color. Mr C. L. 

 Tuttle of Rochester intends to make additional explorations in this 

 district during the current season. 



Monroe county contains the well-known Wheatland district in 

 which active mining has been carried on for many years. There are 

 two layers, separated by a limestone bed 6 to 12 feet thick. The 

 upper layer above is worked and is followed underground by 

 means of tunnels and shafts. In the average, about 5V2 feet of 

 gypsum is excavated. Most of the output is calcined and used in 

 wall plaster manufacture. Some is sold crude to cement mills and 

 a small amount ground to land plaster. The active producers 

 include the Lycoming Calcining Co. of Garbutt, the Empire Gypsum 

 Co. of Garbutt and the Consolidated Wheatland Plaster Co. of 

 Wheatland. 



Near Oakfield, Genesee county, are the mines of the United 

 States Gypsum Co. which are very extensive and productive and 

 are based on a layer of white gypsum 4 to 5 feet thick. The output 

 mainly is converted into stucco for wall plasters, hollow fireproofing 

 and plaster-board, that are manufactured locally by the same com- 

 pany. West of these mines lies the property of the Niagara Gypsum 

 Co., which also operate on a large scale, making various calcined 

 products. 



Just east of Akron, Erie county, are the mines of the American 

 Gypsum Co. and the Akron Gypsum Products Corporation. They 

 2 



