THE MINING AND QUARRY INDUSTRY 



139 



The greater portion of the limestone was converted by the com- 

 panies operating -the quarries. In all 21 counties participated in 

 the production. The quantity of lime made was 323,905 short tons, 

 valued at $702,684. Of the total, Onondaga county contributed 

 193,506 tons, or about 60 per cent. In the previous year the pro- 

 duction amounted to 381,974 short tons, valued at $678,225, of which 

 Onondaga county made 230,194 tons. The importance of the in- 

 dustry in this county is due to the operations of the Solvay Process 

 Co., which uses the output as a reagent in the manufacture of soda 

 products. 



The production in the other leading counties was as follows, the 

 figures for 1904 being given in brackets : Warren county, 38,025 

 [32,000] tons; Westchester, 24,700 [28,000]; Jefferson, 19,017 

 [17,403] ; Clinton, 16,000 [15,873] and Washington county, 12,000 

 [9000] tons. 



It will be noted that the value of the production as given above is 

 considerably less than the ruling commercial price owing- to the 

 fact that a nominal valuation has been placed upon the portion used 

 as a chemical reagent. Disregarding the quantities thus consumed, 

 the value of the lime averaged $3.58 a short ton in 1905 and $3.54 

 a short ton in the preceding year. 



Crushed stone. Limestone is more widely employed for crush- 

 ing than any other kind of stone. The total production in 1905 

 amounted to 1,851,008 cubic yards valued at $1,193,800, as com- 

 pared with 1,471,305 cubic yards valued at $994,475 in the, preceding 

 year. Of the quantities given, 573,924 cubic yards in 1905 and 

 443,037 cubic yards in 1904 were reported as having been used for 

 road metal, though the actual amount thus used probably somewhat 

 exceeded these totals. The leading counties in the production of 

 crushed stone with their output are as follows, the figures for 

 1904 being bracketed: Rockland, 335,714 cubic yards [258,873]; 

 Dutchess, 335,112 [320,701]; Genesee, 288,000 [252,224]; Erie, 

 243.628 [286,658] ; Albany, 131,000 [80,503] and Onondaga, 84,811 

 [6i,552]. 



Building stone. The production of building stone showed little 

 change during the past year, the total value aggregating $246,300 

 against $248,647 in 1904. Erie county contributed the largest 

 amount in both years, $103,763 in 1905 and $108,411 in 1904. With 

 the exception of Schoharie county which had an output valued at 

 $49,227, the remaining counties were small producers. There is 

 a very large demand for limestone in building operations, but the 

 greater part of the supply is brought in from other states. 



