The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1916-09-30
ONLY PLANT SOUTH
Of ATLANTA.
Blowers Lime and Phosphate Com
pany Putting in the Most Up
tO-Date Machinery

A Star reporter, in company with
Mr.. Chas. E. Simmons of the OcaIa
Iron Works, made a trip to the
Blowers lime and phosphate plant at
Blowers yesterday afternoon. Upon
their arrival at the plant they found
Mr.. Blowers out looking over his faTl
seed beds which are fine and from
which he will be able to set out an
excellent garden.
This enterprising firm has recently
added to its lime business machinery
for the manufacture of ground lime
stone for road purposes, or mineral
filler, as it is called, and which is
principally used in the making of
paving asphalt.
The new machinery consists of a
small pulverizer, two conveyors, a
large drying machine and a large
finishing mill, and there is yet an adj
ditional conveyor to be placed. From
the pit the stone is carried up an in
cline to the pulverizer and thence by
a conveyor to the big drying machine,
which to the eye resembles a large
smokestack lying on the ground, and
which revolves, the stone passing thru
an intense heat which thoroughly
dries it. After passing through the
dryer it is carried to the top Of the
building and dumped into a large
bin This bin feeds the finishing
machine which grinds the stone into
powder, finer than the finest -four.
The fact that it has to be ground so
fine calls for most intricate machin-
cry, and heretofore has not been OBJ
tainable south of Atlanta, which call
ed for high freight rate, thus the
putting in of this process by the
Blowers company is a great saving
in freight alone to the contractor, be-
sides much time is saved in transpor-
tation.
At present, the mineral filler pours
through a shute to the floor of the
building, where men with wheel-bar-
rows take it to the cars. This system
is both slow and costly, as well as
causing much unnecessary dust. 1t is
Mr.. Blowers intention to have an adj
ditional conveyor put in which will
carry the finished product to large
bin where it will be stored and from
which it can be easily run into the
cars without additional handling, thus
saving both time and labor.
The output of the plant at present
is about 40 tons a day, which Mr..
Blowers tells us has been contracted
for for the period of year. The
product is shipped out just as fast as
the plant can manufacture it, and at
present orders from contractors call
for more than the capacity of the
plant, which is the only one of its
kind in the state, in fact the only one
south of Atlanta.
The manufacture of ground agri-
cultural lime for which the plant has
a capacity of about 100 tons a day,
has not been neglected upon taking
up the manufacture of mineral filler,
and keeps the works going at fuIl
capacity all the time.
Although this company has been
working its lime deposit for about
four years there is still an abundance
of rock, and with this added product
the company faces still more pros
porous career.
Besides looking after the lime bus
mess, Mr.. Blowers has an extensive
farm and produces bumper crops. He
has about 80 head of fine hogs, rang
ing from two and three-day-old pigs
to great big porkers. Mr.. Blowers is
also boosting the new breed of hogs,
the Hampshire, recently adopted by
the boys pig club, he having pur-
chased three, two for himself and one
for his boy, who is member of the
ciI1h