Roofing slate, mill stock,a and slate granules (including "flour") sold in the United States in 1922 and 1923, by uses

In 1922 the mill stock sold, including school slates, was approximately 9,276,800 square feet, valued at $2,899,195; in 1923 it was 11,109,480 square feet, valued at $4,159,644.

c Average value per thousand pieces. F.o. b. at point of shipment.

square feet, valued at $16,906, in 1922, and 249,540 square feet,

valued at $54,493, in 1923), tombstones, waste slate, and other uses not specified.

Slate sold in the United States in 1923, by States and uses

For details see table of sales on page 55.

Included under "Undistributed."

Exclusive of value of granules, etc., which is included under "Undistributed."
Includes output of States entered as "()" above.

• Includes also value of granules, etc., for Virginia.

1918.

1919.

1920_

IMPORTS AND EXPORTS1

Value of slate imported for consumption in the United States, 1918-1923

Roofing slate exported from the United States, 1922 and 1923, by countries

1 The figures of imports and exports were compiled by J. A. Dorsey, of the United States Geological Survey, from the records of the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce.

The following figures for exports of slate other than roofing were collected by the United States Geological Survey from shippers of the products named:

Slate other than roofing exported from the United States in 1923, by destination

a Cases weigh from 130 to 165 pounds each; average is 135 pounds.
There was also shipped to Canada 5,109 short tons of slate granules, valued at $38,126.
e Includes a small amount of structural slate.

REVIEW BY DISTRICTS

The slate report for 1922 gave for each section of the country where slate is produced a list of the producers operating slate quarries and a brief description of the slate produced and its use. The few changes that have taken place among operators in 1923 are noted in the following review by districts.

Maine district.-In Maine the quantity of slate sold increased about 36 per cent over the output in 1922. The principal product sold is electrical slate, although sales of slate for roofing, structural purposes, blackboards, tombstones, and granules were also reported. Demand was good throughout the year. Wages increased from 10 to 30 per cent, and prices from 10 to 15 per cent. Development work was carried on by all the producing companies, and a new shaft was reported as having been opened by the General Slate Co.

New York-Vermont district.-There was an increase of production of 10 per cent for both the New York and Vermont quarries in 1923. These States produce the colored roofing slates that are at present especially popular on account of the wide variety of color offered to the architect for the blending of the color of the roof with the material and environment of the house. The slate of New York is not used to any extent for mill stock. Red granules and red roofing slate are obtained only in New York, but roofing slate of the purple, green, gray, and variegated colors common to the Vermont slates are also produced in New York. Some of the slate is also sold for flagging. The Vermont quarries produce roofing slate, mill stock, and slate granules. The colors are in a wide variety and combinations of green and purple generally classed as green, unfading green, unfading mottled green and purple, weathering green (sea-green), purple, variegated, and "freak" colors. There are also black and gray varieties. The granules manufactured are generally green. In 1923 Vermont reported the largest sales of electrical slate. The purple slate is the variety most used for this product.

Pieces of slate of larger and more regular size have from time to time been used in manufacturing roofing material as inlaid slate or as slate veneer, by embedding the slate pieces in prepared material, generally of asphaltic nature. It has been stated that the Ruberoid Co., of New York, has erected a plant at Granville, N. Y., for the manufacture of a "slate shingle" in which a piece of ruberoid about 9 by 20 inches is faced with pieces of slate about 9 by 8 inches, the slate being cemented to the ruberoid. The slate used is to be of several colors supplied by the different quarries, so that a selection of any color or mixtures of colors that may be desired by the builders may be available.

Slate of all kinds was in good demand in this district. Wages and prices remained unchanged at some of the plants but increased from 5 to 15 per cent at others. A strike of five months among the slate makers was reported. There was considerable activity in both States among the operators of small quarries that furnish small amounts, generally of unusually colored or specially sized slate, to larger operators or dealers for sale. On account of the variety of colored slates found in this district much of the roofing slate commands especially high prices.

Middle Atlantic States.-Pennsylvania furnishes practically all the slate in the Middle Atlantic district, but a small amount of roofing slate is produced annually in the "Peachbottom" region of Harford County, Md., and in New Jersey. In addition to the roofing-slate quarries in Maryland mentioned in the report for 1922, a mill has been erected at Whiteford, Harford County, for the production and manufacture in 1924 of black roofing granules by the Staso Milling Co. of Chicago, Ill. Exclusive of slate granules, Pennsylvania is the largest producer of slate in the United States and also produces a greater variety of slate products than any other State, although Maine and Vermont both outrank it in the production of electrical slate. The demand for all slate products except school slates was unusually good in 1923. Although prices and wages remained the same as in 1922 at some of the quarries, there were increases of 5 to 15 per cent in both at other plants. There were few changes in the companies operating in the State from 1922. In Lehigh County the Manhattan Slate Co. (address, Slatington), Slatedale, and the Lehigh Slate Co., Slatedale, were added to the list of producers. In Northampton County the Amalgamated Slate Co. (address, Easton) operated the Genuine Washington and Provident quarries at Berlinsville; the Bangor Slate Co. operated the Bangor Peerless quarry at Bangor; the Banner Slate Co. (address, Slatington) operated the Montgomery Slate Co.'s quarries at Danielsville; Bray & Parsons, East Bangor, started operations in September; the HardVein Slate Co. (address, Easton) started the development of a quarry at Edelmans; and the Old Bangor Slate Co. (address, Easton) resumed operations at Bangor. Development work and quarry and mill improvements were reported by many of the operators. There was a considerable lack of both common and skilled labor and a few short strikes among the workers during the year. The sales of slate in 1923 according to the location of the plants and uses of the slate are given in the following table:

Slate sold in Pennsylvania in 1923, by counties and uses

For roofing granules.

In 1922 includes 328,845 square feet of billiard-table material, valued at $119,209, and 30,673 short tons of granules and "flour," valued at $196,915; and in 1923 454,810 square feet of billiard-table material, valued at $148,138, and 68,550 short tons of granules and "flour," valued at $496,933.

d Exclusive of value of roofing granules, which is included in first entry above.

SHIPMENTS

In 1923 an attempt was made for the first time to collect statistics of the initial shipments of slate from the quarry districts to the different States. The collection of these statistics was undertaken chiefly at the request of the National Slate Association. The localization of the slate deposits in the most thickly populated part of the United States makes the matter of transportation to markets in other areas where the development of cities and towns is steadily increasing one of considerable importance to the slate trade. Transportation and freight rates have long been a retarding factor in the slate industry, and the better rates from the Vermont quarries that have recently been obtained have been given as one of the principal reasons for the increased activity of the slate trade in this State. It would therefore seem that a statement showing the location and size of markets already obtained would suggest where other markets may be available. The total quantity of slate quarried annually is small, compared with that of many other mineral products, and no individual company produces an output of any considerable magnitude. In order, therefore, to facilitate the marketing of the product large quarry companies and joint selling agencies act as distributors for many of the quarries and also as buyers for the slate trade. For this reason many of the quarry operators have no record of the ultimate

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