GRANITE OF MAINE. 
345 
be met with, from porphyry and syenite, more 
beautiful than that of Pompey's Pillar or Cleopatra's 
Needle, to the close-grained, compact granite so 
often seen in the pubhc buildings of New- York and 
Boston. Situated directly upon navigable waters, 
it can be quarried and transported to market cheap- 
er than perhaps any building material in the coun- 
try ; many of the quarries of Maine, Dr. Jackson 
states, can furnish unhewn blocks of any size, on 
board ship, for $1 12 per ton, and the expense of 
transportation to New- York is rarely more than 
$2 50 per ton. As the article in any of our principal 
cities is worth $7 per ton, this will give a profit of 
$3 38 for each ton of granite. Masses suitable for 
columns command about 90 cents per cubic foot; 
so that a column similar to those of the New- York 
Exchange costs $1500. At Kennebunk, rough-split 
granite sells for $5 per ton of 14 cubic feet on 
the wharf. The price remains uniform up to the 
dimensions of 26 cubic feet, and above that meas- 
ure, two cents per foot is charged for every addi- 
tional foot. Stones for store fronts, hammered, sell 
for 75 cents per superficial foot; and where two 
sides of a stone are fine dressed and two rough 
hammered, three sides are charged, and nothing is 
demanded for the ends. Where three sides are 
fine dressed and one rough hammered, they charge 
for four sides and not for the ends. Numerous and 
very extensive quarries of granite are now worked 
both in Maine and Massachusetts, which are a fruit- 
ful and increasing source of wealth to the inhabi- 
tants. 
In the State of New- York we find mountains of 
granite and gneiss, and various modifications of 
these rocks, especially in Dutchess, Putnam, and 
Westchester counties. Prof. Mather states, that 
" there are many places in these counties where 
quarries may be opened, which would afi'ord build- 
ing materials of the best quality, and which would 
