94 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



tical canvass of such small and temporary enterprises is a matter 

 of great difficulty and is likely to afford very unreliable results. 

 For that reason the statistics in this report are mostly based on 

 statements furnished by dealers who operate in the bluestone dis- 

 tricts and who act as middlemen between the individual quarries 

 and the larger contractors or consumers in New York and other 

 large cities. The larger part of the curb and flagstone in the 

 Delaware and Hudson River districts is handled by such dealers. 



The production of sandstone during the last two years is shown 

 in the accompanying tables which give its distribution also among 

 the leading districts. 



The quarries of both bluestone and ordinary sandstone were 

 slightly more active last year than in 191 1. The combined value 

 of all the sandstone quarried was $1,280,743 against $1,060,106 in 

 the preceding year. The gain of $220,637 or about 20 per cent, 

 did not restore the industry to its position in the year 1910, when 

 the value of the output amounted to $1,451,796. The totals are 

 exclusive of any sandstone quarried by contractors for use on the 

 State highway system, for which it is impossible to assign any 

 accurate figure. 



Of the total value of the output for 19 12, bluestone constituted 

 a little less than two-thirds, in actual figures, $824,949. In the 

 year 191 1, it had a value of $718,777, indicating a good gain, but 

 not counterbalancing the declines of preceding years. The flagstone 

 industry has met with increasing competition from makers of cement 

 walks and the output has shrunk to less than half of its former 

 proportions. The total for flag and curbstones was $503,189 against 

 $432,327 in 191 1. The value of bluestone used for building pur- 

 poses was $295,450 as compared with $280,300 in 191 1. The other 

 uses are relatively unimportant. 



Sandstone other than bluestone constituted a value of $455,794 

 against $340,729 in 191 1. The main item in the total was paving 

 blocks valued at $188,802 against $162,220. Orleans county, which 

 is the principal center of the Medina sandstone industry, accounted 

 for a total value of $340,796, as compared with $225,862 in the 

 preceding year. 



