15 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



1,187,973,000. This represented an increase over the number manu- 

 factured in the preceding year, which totaled 1,066,982,000. The 

 gain came from the counties along the Hudson river, from Rensse- 

 laer county southward, and was due to the improvement in the 

 building trades in New York and other large cities in the vicinity. 

 The New England trade also showed a better demand, as instanced 

 by the increase in the production of the plants which shipped mainly 

 to that market, notably those of Saratoga county. 



The value of the common brick made last year was $6,646,436, 

 or an average of $5.59 a thousand, as- compared with $5,310,511, 

 an average of $4.98 a thousand in 191 1. The rise in prices indicated 

 by this comparison was very substantial and the season on the 

 whole may be considered as quite prosperous in this branch of the 

 industry. Since 1910 the selling value at the yards has increased 

 nearly 20 per cent. 



In addition to the common building brick, there were manu- 

 factured last year 17,731,000 front or fancy brick with a value of 

 $243,504. The output for 191 1 numbered 11,037,000 valued at 

 $132,792. The aggregate production of brick for building purposes 

 was thus 1,205,704,000 valued at $6,889,940. 



A feature of the record that appears on comparison of the 

 statistics for several years past is the marked falling off in the 

 number of plants and the tendency toward the restriction of the 

 active industry to those localities or districts which possess natural 

 advantages for manufacturing or marketing the product. As the 

 annual output has been maintained at a fairly even rate, aside 

 from fluctuations due to market influences, this indicates that the 

 average outturn has enlarged very considerably, no doubt with 

 resulting economies. In 1906, for instance, there were 231 yards 

 in operation, distributed among 37 counties. 



