Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-24

though only dug tor
M-H the market since
1887. are already pro-
ducng vast wealth.
One hundred and six mines for getting out
the stuff have been opened in various parts
Of the peninsula, and it is reckoned that
133 100000 tons of it are actually in sight.
The phosphate deposits of Florida are the
greatest in the world. Though science has
devoted some attention to studying them,
no satisfactory theory as to their formation
| has, as yet, been formed. The most gen.
orally accepted notion on the subject Is
| that the existence of this valuable fertil-
| izer in such immense beds is due to sea
| birds of a prehistoric epoch. The part
which they took, however, is supposed to
| have been secondary.
| Ages ago what is now Florida was under
| water. On the bottom and swimming about
were multitudes of mollusks and other crea-
| lures with shells. The shells which they
| left behind them when they died formed
banks of lime. Eventually great area of
these banks was uplfted above the surface
Of the ocean. Upon them sea fowl of var
ious species made their home, breeding
there and depositiDg their droppings for
century after century.
Rains poured down upon the banks, dis
solving the droppings and causing the ma
nure to intiltrate the shelly substance. Bird
manure contains a great percentage or
phosphoric acid. This acid transformed the
linly material into phosphate OF lime. OF
course, this work was only accomplished
through a vast duration of time. How II
was performed can be imagined by anybody
who has seen the immense rookerieS OF
pelicanS and other marine water. fowl which
exist TO this day in Florida.
The accumulation of droppinss at such
roOkeries is frequently astonishing. In this
way were formed the deposits of gIIano on
certain islands off the coast of Peru. The
guano beds were as much as 100 feet deep
in places, being composed of the eXcreta of
flaminSues. divers, penguins, and other
feathered creatures, together with the ex-
cremeat and bony remains of seals, sea
lions, and other animals. Ancient Peruvian
law made 1t q capital offense to kill sim
gle bird that roasted on the islands. Most
OF the latter have been nearly stripped Of
the precious fertillzing material.
Not Altogether Certain.
Unfortunately. this picturesque theory as
to the origin of the phosphate deposits is
not Endorsed by all biologists. There is no
doubt Of the fact that the beds Of lime were
formed by mollusks and other creatures
with shells, some little and some hg which
left their houses behind them when they
died But it is believed by some authorities
that the phosphorc acid WAS derived from
the ocean, which holds much of II in solu-
ton. Certain species OF moilusks whose
shells are found in the beds secrete Mos
phate OF lime themselves and may thus
have aided in the work.
The truth is that this is one OF the puzzles
of geology. Nobody Sn ows how the de-
posits were formed. 1t is certain that at a
comparatively recent period the lime hanks
sank beneath the sea, from which they SUBJ
sequenty emerged again. Thus they were
covered over with several feet in thickness
of the sand which is the characteristic sur
face soil of Florida. The beds of the So
nlOSnhnfa
hundreds of square miles. are located by
driving long iron rod with 4 sharp point
down through the sand to he stratum Of
lime beneath.
This stratum of solid stuff forms a layc-
that is as much as fifty feet thick ia places.
1t is covered with from two to twenty feet
OF sand. over a great part of the state
one cannot dig far without coming to the
rock phosphate. After It's presence has
been asce-tained beneath Il given area of
surface soil, the latter is cleared ayay and
the phosphate of lime is quarried ont with
blast, pick and shovel IT is dried in kilns
and is then shipped to Baltimore and other
northern ports. On its arrival IL is ground
fine and treated with sulphuric acid The
powder thus prepared is mixed with larf-
Gus fertiliZing materials, sucn as nitratos
o. bones, horns. blood and such refuse from
packing works. The final product culver
lied and perfectly desi2cated II NOT al all
offensive to the nostrls.
The best phosphate material contains as
much as eighty per cent OF phosphate of
lime The latter in composition closely re-
sembles bone that has been deprived of its
organic matter. Human bones fu- cyan
pie, have ffty-seven rcr cent of pLospbnte
OF lime and thirty-three per cent Of suimal
matter. 1t was only IN 1913 that the Duke
of Richmond. incidentally to some eyneri-
ments, discovered for the first zinc thar lie
value of bones a fertilizer was due NOT
to their gelatine or fatty matter. as had
been supposed, but to their phosphoric acid
1t was this discovery which first excited in
terest in phoSphates
Phosphoric acid is one Of h, eIenoe-. re-
most essential to vegetable growth II an
tiers largely into the composition or rinnte
SEEDS are more than hale made of n.
COW at pasture during one SImma- will t,ixa
away from the land fifty pounds OF n ~
veal anu milk. Accordingly, The soil must
be continually resuppiiad with IL Tbus ~
is not surprising that great attention sro,,IJ
nave been excited abroad by the dI.coycr,,
of phosphate deposits in Florida. GEORGIA.
North ana South Carolina. In the last
next after Florida, there are M ;,eeant
thlrty mines in operation. Small mines
nave been opened in various othe- parts OF
the country.
An English Syndicate
only the other day bowling swell with n
single eyeglass, whose accent proclaimed
MIN an Englshman, turned up at the De-
partment OF Agriculture here with a request
for some information about American phos
phate deposits. 1t presently appeared that
he knew more on the subject than the
Official experts could tell him. He was a
dictate which had secured options On ex-
tensive areas of phosphate lands IN the
south. his orders We're II analyZe the
product, and if 1t was found satisfactory,