The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-06-10
Will Make High Grade Fer tilizer of Slag, Which Heretofore Has Been
 Wasted
NEW PLANT WILL COST FROM S3OO,OOO TO $500, ,OOO
Will Manufacture Basic Slag Fertili- ger, Which, It Is Believed, Will Mean Much for Southern
 Agricultural Lands

The Tennessee Coal. Iron and Rail- road company announces the addition of another plant to its operations here.
 The company will erect near No. 8 mine a plant for the manufacture of basic slag fertilizer which will cost between s300.000 and s50o.ooo No es- innate of the cost was made In the official announcement yesterday from the offices of George Gordon Craw- ford, president of the company.
 The company officials have for some time been trying to obtain from the Steel corporation an appropriation to be used here in the construction of this plant which will utilize the basic and Railroad company, and which in the past has been wasted to a large extent. The Steel corporation off ciaIs, however, have authorized the ap- propriation and the plant is to be con- structed.
 Complete Plant
 The official announcement made pointed out that the plant will crush, pulverize and sack the basic slag fer tilizer. The plant will consist of steel anu tuDCTtlt DullulHBS containing eltC- trically driven machinery.
 The utilization of basic slag for fer tilizer has never before been at tempted in this section of the country. The entrance of the company into the manufacture of this by-product Is one which. it is believed, will be of tre- mendous value to this section The fertilizer to be made Is said to be better than the basic Bessemer slag fertilizer which is 11cad in the f.prpaa n empire It is well known how rich the German farm lands are. About 10000 tons of this fertilizer Is imported to this country each year. The agrieul- tural sections of the south will profit to a great extent by the manufacture in Birmingham of this fertilizer which contains soluble phosphoric acid in greater quantities, it is believed, than fertilizers made in this section at this time.
 Formal Announcement
 The official announcement made from the offices of President Crawford follows:
 "The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Rail road company will construct in the vicinity of its No. 3 mine at Ensley, large plant for crushing. pulevriz- ing and sacking basic slag fertilizer of a similar or somewhat better quality than the German basic -Bessemer slag, fertilizer known as Thomas slag.
 "rhee basic slag fertilizer will con- tain about IT per cent of soluble phos- rhoric acid. The slag will also con tain about AS per cent of lime, as compared with 52 per cent of lime in ground carbonate of lime. Phosphoric acid is plant food; lime is not Lime fs useful for the purpose of neutral izing acid soils. In this climate, most soils which do not contain carbonate of lime become acid after frequent cultivations, and ground carbonate of lime is recommended as an addition to such soils The basic slag fertilizer, in addition to carrying IT per cent available phosphoric acid, also car ries nearly as much lime as carbonate of lime contains.
 Steel and Concrete
 ''The plant will consist of steel and concrete buildings containing electric ally driven crushing, conveying. grind ing and sacking machinery. A ware house will be provided for storing the fertilizer
 Experiments covering a period of over a year have been conducted at the Ensley plant, and have resulted in producing in the open hearth a slag of better quality for fertilizing pur- poses than that which Is made in the German basic Bessemer plants.
 "The basic -Bessemer slag produced in the German mills has been on the market for a number of years, and furnishes the principal supply of phos- phoric acid for fertilizing purposes for the German empire, and about 20,O00 tons annually have been imported into the United States"