THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY I906 I5 



The manufacture of the finer grades of clay wares has not devel- 

 oped so rapidly as the other lines. In contrast with most of the 

 states along the Atlantic seaboard, New York possesses almost no 

 deposits of kaolin in quantity to be of economic value. This fact 

 has hitherto retarded the establishment of industries in which kaolin 

 is employed, but with improved facilities of transport, the deficiency 

 has become less formidable to local manufacturers. There are now 

 several plants in the State making tableware, electrical supplies and 

 other porcelain and semiporcelain wares. 



Production of clay materials 



The unprecedented demand for clay building materials which 

 was experienced in nearly all sections of the State throughout the 

 previous year, continued to exert a favorable influence on the clay- 

 working industries during 1906. For the first part of the year the 

 output of building brick was specially large. Under the stimulus 

 of the high prices received during 1905, a number of new plants were 

 placed in operation, while many of the old ones were improved and 

 enlarged, resulting in a considerable increase of the aggregate capac- 

 ity. During the first few months of the year the demand was 

 sufficient to absorb the entire output, but before the summer was 

 well advanced a gradual slackening of building operations began to 

 be felt in the large cities and became more pronounced toward the 

 end of the season. With the falling off in the demand, manufac- 

 turers cut down their production to some extent so that their aver- 

 age for the year was about on the same scale as in 1905. 



The aggregate value of the production of clay materials of all 

 kinds for 1906 was $13,955,300. There were 265 companies or 

 individuals actively engaged in the industry, as compared with 250 

 in the preceding year. Of the 61 counties of the State, 48 were 

 represented in the returns as having an output of clay materials. 

 Compared with the production of 1905, which was valued at 

 $14,280,016, there was a decrease of $324,716, or about 2 per cent. 

 The falling off in the valuation of building brick alone more than 

 equalled the aggregate decline. 



The value of the output of common building brick for the year 

 amounted to $9,302,165, as compared with $9751,753 in 1905 

 Front brick and fancy building brick aggregated $386,124, as com- 

 pared with $302,844; vitrified paving brick $178,011, against $180,- 

 004; and fire brick and stove lining $527,659, against $498,184 in 

 the preceding year. The manufacture of drain tile amounted to 



