lift [AsSKMBLy 
Columbia and Dutchess counties, in valuable marblesj as inexhaustible 
and incalculable. 
Granite, Gneiss , and Granular Quartz, 
Granite and gneiss, and various modifications of these rocks, form the 
mountains in the south and southeast parts of Dutchess county. There 
are many places where quarries may be opened, which would afford 
building materials of the best quality, and which would endure the chan- 
ges of our variable climate for ages, without decay or disintegration. 
The naked crags and masses of rock afford irresistible evidence on this 
point. These rocky hills and mountains, worthless as they now seem 
to most persons, undoubtedly contain the best of building materials. 
The quarries which will be opened will form an important branch of in- 
dustry, and will enable our citizens to construct both our public edifices 
and private dwellings of our own native materials, and which are as du- 
rable and beautiful as those now brought from Maine, Massachusetts, 
and Connecticut, at so great an expense. 
The discussion of these rocks in detail will be left until the next an- 
nual report, when they will have been fully examined. They form the 
main rocky masses of Putnam and Westchester counties, but occupy a 
small area in Dutchess county, so that but a small portion of these 
mountains have been investigated as much in detail as their merits re- 
quire. 
Mount Stessing, near Pine Plains, in Dutchess county, is an isolated 
mountain of gneiss and granite, which are perfectly similar to those of 
the Highlands. Its strata are nearly vertical, and dip to the eastward, 
except in one or two localities, where they lean a little to the east. 
There are some beds of rock suitable for building stone, but the moun- 
tain is so located that it is not probable they will be of any value. 
The slate rocks, very much dislocated and upturned, form the west- 
em, and the Barnegat limestone range the eastern boundary, of this 
mountain. It stands perfectly isolated, like an island in the sea, sur- 
rounded by other rocks, and in a country comparatively level for a few 
miles around, except on the west, w^herc the upturned slate rocks form 
a labyrinth of small hills. 
Granular quartz rock forms a mountain mass in the east part of 
Dutchess county. A part of Peaked Mountain and Elbow Mountain 
are formed of this material. It varies much in its texture and colour, 
but some of its beds will probably make a good fire-stone, and others 
