BUILDING STONE. 585 
be advantageously extracted, as the rock is very much broken up. Never 
more than 12 and usually not more than 7 feet of the rock are quarried, 
for below this the rock is more broken, and iscalled “ shellyock.” The 
waste products of the quarries are sold for a mere nominal price for 
foundations and underpinnings. As the rock lies above drainage it is a 
very desirable material for trimmings on account of the permanency of 
its color. The grindstones sell for a little above the average price. 
Stone quarried at West View is considered equivalent to the Am- 
herst stone. 
-Inaddition to the large quarries mentioned, the Berea grit is quarried 
in a small way to satisfy the local demand. Cuyahoga county forms one 
of the most important quarry districts in the United States. 
Extracting and dressing the Berea grit is a prominent industry in 
Krie and Lorain counties. The material produced from this and the 
-adjoining regions, under the name of the Amherst building stone, is the 
most highly esteemed of any in the state, and it has been extensively 
shipped to Canada. ‘There are large areas of good stone near the sur- 
face, away from railroad transportation, which have not been opened. 
Quite a variety of stones, as regards structure, can be furnished from 
this formation, increasing the number of uses to which it may be ap- 
plied. 
The Amherst quarries in Lorain county are located in a series of 
ledges which were once the shore-cliffs of Lake Erie. The elevated 
position of these stones is a very great advantage, since the light and 
uniform color seems due to the fact that this elevation produces a free 
drainage, and the stones have been traversed by atmospheric waters to 
such a degree that all processes of oxidation which are possible have 
been nearly completed. The elevation also facilitates the extraction. 
Spur-tracks from the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railroad pass 
through most of these quarries and supply means of transportation, and 
the C. and F. V. railroad furnishes means of access to those quarries not 
in direct communication with the above road. 
The Berea grit at Amherst, as well as elsewhere, varies considerably 
in character and solidity within limited distances, and the ledges in 
which the quarries are situated apvarently represent the more massive 
portions of the stratum, which have resisted erosion and have hence 
been left in relief. 
An idea of the arrangement of the strata in quarries can be obtained | 
