Pennsylvania

In 1933 the production was 79,296,000 tons.

Extending from the south-west corner of the State is the Penn sylvania section of the Appalachian oil-field, which, with a small section in New York, furnished nearly all of the country's supply of petroleum for some years following the discovery of its value for illuminating purposes. The first petroleum well was drilled in 1859 at Titusville. The State's yearly output continued to increase until 1891, when it amounted to 31,424,206 barrels. Since then, however, with fewer important developments, the output de clined to 7,824,000 bbl. in 1924. In 1934 it was 14,516,000 bbl., valued at $17,564,360. The value of the State's natural gas output increased from approximately $75,000 in 2882 to approximately $29,282,000 in 1888, the total value of its output during these and the intervening years being more than 8o% of that of all the United States. In 1934 the output was 84,000,000,000 cu. ft. or over 9% of that of the entire country.

There are deposits of various kinds of iron-ore in the eastern, south-eastern, middle and some of the western counties, and from the middle of the 18th century until near the close of the 19th century, Pennsylvania ranked high among the iron-ore producing States. As late as 1880 it ranked first, with a product amounting to 1,951,496 long tons. But after the first successful experiments in making pig-iron with bituminous coal in 1845, the State's iron foundries moved rapidly westward and thus away from the chief producing centres. The discovery still later that rich ore could be transported to the western part of the State at less cost from the Lake Superior region resulted in a further decline of iron mining within the State until in 1932 the ore mined amounted to only 103,00o long tons. By 1934 it had increased to 525,000 long tons.

Pennsylvania has extensive areas of limestone rock suitable for making cement, and in Northampton and Lehigh counties enormous quantities of it are used in this industry. In Lehigh county the first successful Portland cement plant in the United States was erected in 1870 and since then Pennsylvania has con tinued to lead all States in its annual output of cement. Portland cement production in the State increased from 825,054 bbl. in 1896 to 42,347,00o bbl. in 1925. In 1933 it was 12,294,00o bbl.

or about 19% of the total for the country. Limestone and dolomites suitable for building purposes are obtained chiefly in Montgomery, Chester and Lancaster counties. Until increased facilities of transport brought more desirable stones into com petition they were used extensively in Philadelphia. There are limestone quarries in nearly two-thirds of the counties and great quantities of the stone are used for flux in the iron furnaces, for making quicklime, for railway ballast and for road making. North ampton, Lehigh and York counties contain the most productive slate quarries in the country, and in 1934 the value of their output was $1,237,477; the Northampton and Lehigh slate is the only kind in the United States used for school blackboards. There

is an extensive area in the south-eastern part of the State contain ing shale clay of a superior quality for making common brick. Kaolin abounds in Chester and Delaware counties, and fire-clay in several of the western counties. In 1933 the State led all others in the value of its clay and clay products. Glass-sand abounds both in the eastern and in the western regions, and for many years Pennsylvania has ranked among the leading States in the manu facture of glass. In Chester county, also, is one of the most pro ductive deposits of felspar, second only to those of Maine.

Manufactures.

Pennsylvania ranks second to New York in the value of its manufactures, which increased from 437 in to $7,381,687,533 in 1923, but declined to $3,051579 in 1933. The value actually added by the manufacturing processes amounted in 1933 to $1,454,489. Despite the increase in value the number of workers rose only from 924,478 in 1914 to in 1925 and fell in 1933 to 716,598 while the number of plants dwindled from 27,521 in 1914 to 12,093 in 1933. The general growth in manufacturing has been promoted by an abundance of fuel, by a good port on the Atlantic seaboard, by the frontage on Lake Erie which makes the ores of the Lake Superior region easily accessible, and by a great railway system which has been built to meet the demands arising from the natural resources. By far the most important industry is the production of iron and steel, in which the State has always held the lead. So long as charcoal only was used in the furnaces (until about 1840) and during the brief period in which this was replaced largely by anthracite, the industry was of chief importance in the eastern region, but with the gradual increase in the use of bituminous coal, or of coke made from it, the industry moved westward, where, especially in the Pittsburgh district, it received a new impetus by the introduction of iron-ore from the Lake Superior region. In the manufacture of pig-iron Pennsylvania is easily first among the States; the output in 1934 from its blast fur naces was 4,409,000 long tons (with a value of about $8o,000,000) or 27.3% by quantity of the output of the entire United States. The output of the 131 steel and rolling mills amounted in value to in or 32.1% by value, of the nation's output. The manufacture of great quantities of coke has re sulted from the demand for this product in the iron and steel industry and from the abundance of coking coal. The manu facture of glass has been promoted by the supply of glass-sand and natural gas in the western part of the State; the manufacture of pottery, terra-cotta and fire-clay products by the abundance of suitable raw clay ; the manufacture of silk and silk goods by the large number of women and girls in the miners' families. In each of these industries also the State has for many years produced a large portion of the country's product.