Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-07-25

i
places, covered over with the sand which forms
the surface soil to the depth of from two 10
twenty feet. OF course people in Florida have
known OF the existence Of this curious imy de-
| the state they could not dig very far without
coming upon it. But it was only little while
ago that some person gifted with the sublime
curiosity that approaches genius thought of
having the stuff analysed. Then il was that
numerous Cracker" residents learned how
they had been living on top OF what might as
wen nave been gold mine while dining upon
she hog and hominy of ignorant privation.
How TO WORK TKEsx DEPOSITS.
The method adopted in working these de-
posts is first to sound" the ground by driving
into 1t Mt intervals of few feet long iron rod
with sharpened point When the phosphate
bed Is reached the rod Is withdrawn and stake
Is stuck IN Its place with figures it indicating
the number OF feet of depth at which the
strike has been made. In this way district
OF more or less extent is '.rodded," and opera
uons are begun by clearing away the surface
the material. The process is like any other
open quarrying. the blast being supplemented
by the pickax and the shovel
Before the substance is ready for shipping il
Is dried In kilns in order to free it from all
moisture, after which IL is put on cars and for
warded by rail to Fernandina, Tampa, Punta
dordo and some to Atlanta, Ga At these
GoAAsS ~ 10 AoaucO dDO6rQ vessels pOunQ LOT
Europe or for New York, Baltimore or other
American ports England is a large buyer Of
phosphate. Upon arriving at its destination
say Baltlmore-the material is ground into a
me gust and treated with sulphuric acid, so
that IL 10 transformed into . powder, which
would be termed by a chemist an ''acid phos-
phate; This powder is then mixed with other
ingredients, 30 as to compose fertlizing prepa-
fations FOR various purposes. The fruit grower
wants one mixture, the vegetable farmer an
other. and go on. However, the ingredients
mentioned are either nitrates, the nature of
which will be presently described, or refuse
from packing works, in the shape Of bones,
norns, blood and all manner of corruption, re-
euced Dy dessicating processes to pulverized
inoffensiyeness
Elsewhere in Florida great beds are found of
PHosphate IN different condition. In the
middle OF tho state, over an area covering hun
dreus OF square miles, the soil is underlaid by
stratum rs much as fifteen feet thick in some
places OF the same material in the shape of
PeDoies denseiy strewn in whitish ciayey
iaatrlx. Buried In this layer discovered
great masses of the remains of huge animals
extinct Tor ages-partcularly sharks which
were doubtless seventy or eighty feet in
length. One gets some notion Of tile swarms
OF these ferocious giants Of the deep that ex-
listed in that antediluvian age from the finding
OF their great teeth. each longer than man 5
hand, In the phosphate, as thickly distributed
as piums III pudding. In the same deposits
are FOUND countless bones of the ,nastodon,
the megatherium, the elephant. the hog, the
horse, the muskrat. &c. They are immense
graveyards Of ages long gone by, preserving
for the contemplation Of man the remains of
the mighty beasts and fishes that roamed the
earth and navigated the waters before his time
had even approached. These phosphate ''land
pebbles, as they are called, arc supposed to
nave peen originally derived from the ''rock'
deposits, being fragments washed to their pres
ent shape by water; but no one knows posi-
lively.
THE NITRATEs N CHILL.
The nitrases of which mention has been
made are obtained largely from Chill, where
the supply is practically controlled by Col.
North, the ''nitrate king" who Is such a great
friend of the Prince of Wales. They are SIM
ply deposits OF nitrate of soda in the beds of
lakes long ago dried up, which originally con-
talnea IN solution large quantities of that ma
1t up, put 1t through suitable processes and
ship 1t at SO much ton for fertiizing pur-
poses When a lake receives the flow of a
great water shed and has no outlet save by
evaporation. its water naturally accommodates
and precipitates on the bottom the chemical
elements filtered into it from the soil around
about. Hence the nitrate deposits referred to.
Bird manure, as has been said, contains a
great percentage Of phosphoric acid, and hence
its wonderful! value as a fertilizer. So well was
'n's apPIeciNteu centuries ago that the incas of
ancient Peru declared death the punishment
for any one who killed even one Of the birds
which deposited guano on the islands off their
COASTS. W late years many of these guano
islands have been stripped of their precious
mate :ial, and before long none of it will be
left although in places it was as much as 100 feet
In depth. being composed of droppings of
namingocs, divers, pcnguns and other sea fowl
during countless generations, together with
their carcasses, and the excrement of seals. sea
lions and marine animals of various sorts
innumerable.
Many considerable deposits Of bat guano have
been found In caves in various parts of the
United States, made up of the droppings and
bones OF these animals, and from such beds
fertilizing supplies have been extensively
drawn, not to mention the use made of them
during the war as mines for the production of
saitPeter from which to Manufacture gun.
powder.