The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1886-01-28

phate beds in South Carolina, Colone
Scott was invited to join his frien,is in
Charleston in the organization of the
otono phosphate company, was made one
OF the first board of directors, and was
until few years ago, actively connected
with the interests of that company. IL
1879 he came 70 Atlanta, and in the fol
lowing spring commenced, in a small
way, the manipulating of Gossyplum
having hal various materials properl Y
prepared at the chemical laboratories
really tor his USE When he frs. called
at the agricultural department and re
qnested an inspection and analysis, stat
ing that the ammoniatiny material was
derived largely from cotton seed meal.
the commissioner, DR.. James, said, he
doubted if he could admit it to inSpec-
ton, As it could hardly be classed az a
commercial fertilizer-the planters hav-
ing at home the material in better form,
!. e., cotton s.rd." After a suggestion
from Colonel Scott that he had come herr.
10 make it, ami ii it was a fraud it wa,
the duty Of the department to exp IS. it.
1t was inspected and gossypium phos-
pho regularly started on its career a. a
full fle1geI commercial fertilizer At
this time the mills were paying onl Y eight
to ten cents per bushel for cotton Seed,
/ for the reason there was no m lrket for
the cake, and depending alone on the sale
of oil, they cold not afford to pay any
more.
Writing to prominent mill for prices
on 800 tons of neal, the party gave it.,
blt slii they fe lre1 he woild oversize *
himself, a they ha .ver soil so mn ;h
to home market. Now, to realize tn i.
great change that the intfOluction OF
this fertilizer has been largely instrn
mental in bringing about, We will men
tioh that manv thousand tons of cotton
seed meal are now used in Atlanta alone
The mills are paying the planters l6 to
IL cents for the seed, and Messrs. Scott
& Co. are furnishing the planters their
high grade fertilizer at less than one
third the cost of a standard fertiliz ,r
when Colonel Scott first commenced the
use of cotton seed meal The cotton
seed mills have increased since that tim
from about to lj4, and thus cotton seed,
which was almost a waste on the planta
ton. has become one of the valuable farm
products OF the SDutn.
!. In the meantime, Gossvpium has grown
50 steadily in favor and their tral- has
so largely increased that MessrS. Scott II
CO. found it necessary to enlarge the CT
pacity of their works.
They have, therefore, ust completed
probably the most complete fertilizer
manufacturing establishment in the Unit
ei States. The buildings are constructed
most substantially and arranged with cv
erv convenience for handling the iul-
mense quantity of goods turned out. The
machinery is all of the most approved
kind. including the new process OF grind
ing phosphate with steel rollers. BY this
process the phosphate remains in the mills
until it is so completely pulverlzed that
it will float out in an atmospheric cur
rent, thus securing an even gra ie of
goods.
The mixer discharges the acid phos
phate into an iron car which carries II out
on track 40 feet above the floor of the
immense depository room, which Is Two
/ hundred feet long aud a hundred and
twelve feet wide. into which it is dis
charged in semi-liquid state, where it
&c Mains until all the acid is taken up AMI
the matcaial rendered soluble. The de-
postc building anl the six story mill
/ building adjoining, are clad (sides an
roof with heavy corrugated iron. Their
new chemical works consist of two com
plete sets Of sulphur and nitre furnaces,
Glover & Gay-Lussac towers, principal
and secondary chambers.
The tower room il of brick, seven SO
ries high and contains four towers, each
constructed of iron and lined with lea'i.
The chamber building is 200 feet by
/ II, aud contains the four chambers, which
are constructed entirely Of lead. The
two principal chamb RS are each 14o feet
long, % feet wide and twenty feet high.
The daily run from these chambers Is
1000 gallons of fifty degree bona sui
phuric acid. The process is about as fol
lows: The sulphur fumes arising from the
burning sulphur are conducted under the
nitre furnace and brought up over the
burning uitre. Here the sulphnrous AMI
nitrous fumes unite and are carried lnt'
AN enormous retort, where they are par
TALLY cooled. They then pass into the
lower plrt of glover or cooling tower
where tfcH arc ttlCt VIII % ShpWCt VI WV
sulphuric acid which has been evenly dis
tributed over tn. top OF the tow.r by d
set of glass turbine wheels. After thu
fumes are thus cooled they are passed in
TO the chambers. Here the fumes are mel
with jets of steam, and thus condensed
into liquid suIphuric acid. From th.
pans of the chambers the sui lpharic acit
is conducted through the cooling tanks
into the chemical egg, from which it Ii
forced by means of a powerful air pump
into the sixth story of the mill building
Here the sulphuric acid and ground phos
pilates are each carefully weighed out il
proper proportions to make one ton Q
{ high grade acid phosphate they are the
passed together into one Of Chisholm
patent propeller mixers, where they sr
II