The mining and quarry industry 1912 75 



Erie county outranks all others in importance in this industry; 

 its products are chiefly furnace flux, crushed stone and building 

 stone. The value of the limestone quarried within the county last 

 year was $923,847. The larger quarries are at North Buffalo, 

 Clarence and Akron. 



Onondaga county occupies second place, the result mainly of the 

 operations of the Solvay Process Co., with its quarries at James- 

 ville which are among the largest and" best equipped of any in the 

 country. Besides the stone used by the company in the alkali works 

 at Syracuse, it sells a large quantity for road making, cement and 

 other purposes. The Lackawanna Stone Co. has quarries under 

 development which will probably enter upon active production dur- 

 ing the current year. 



The other counties reporting a value of over $100,000 in 19 12 

 were Dutchess, Rockland, Ulster, Genesee, Warren, Niagara, Al- 

 bany and Schoharie, ranking in the order named. A large quarry 

 to furnish flux is being opened near Gasport, Niagara county. This 

 locality lies on the outcrop of the Clinton formation, the same as 

 the flux quarry near Pekin, a little farther west. The quarry is 

 to be operated by the Wickwire Limestone Co. It is reported that 

 a limestone quarry is under development at Oriskany Falls, by 

 Bardorf, Davis & Chapman. 



The distribution of the limestone according to counties and also 

 according to uses is shown in the accompanying tables for the years 

 1911 and 1912. 



Crushed stone. Limestone finds its principal application as 

 crushed stone in which form it is employed for road metal, concrete 

 and railroad ballast. There are large quarries supplying crushed 

 stone in Erie, Genesee, Dutchess, Ulster and Rockland counties, as 

 well as many smaller quarries in other counties. The canal, highway 

 and other public improvements in current progress have created 

 large markets for the material and the production has shown a 

 steady increase. A considerable quantity of the fines made by the 

 crushing plants is sold for agricultural purposes as a substitute for 

 burnt rock or lime. 



The value of the crushed limestone for 19 12 reached a total of 

 $2,176,368 against $1,936,292 for the preceding year. As stated 

 already, the total does not include the stone crushed by contractors 

 for local use on the highway system. The actual quantity turned 

 out by the crushing plants was 3,559,257 cubic yards, as compared 

 with 3,116,958 cubic yards in 191 1. Erie county alone made an out- 



