138 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



CHAPTER XXVI.— Commercial Fertilizers 

 (Continued) 



130. Phosphates. — The phosphates of fertilizers 

 comes from two sources : (1) The great deposits of rock 

 -phosphate; (2) The bones of animals. 



131. Where Phosphates are Found. — Phosphate rock 

 is found in many parts of the world. In Canada there 

 are large deposits of mineral phosphates called 

 apatite. In the United States great quantities of 

 phosphates are found, the best known deposits occur- 

 ring in the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, 

 Florida and Tennessee. In the United States the 

 deposits are known as phosphate rock. 



Phosphate rock varies greatly in appearance and 

 composition, and occurs sometimes as pebbles in bot- 

 toms of rivers, sometimes as boulders scattered 

 through the soil, and again as great beds of rock re- 

 sembling beds of limestone. In the States of South 

 Carolina, Xorth Carolina and Florida the deposits of 

 phosphates are, as a rule, found near the coast. The 

 so-called river rock is dredged from the bottom of 

 rivers, some in the form of water-worn stones, and 

 some in boulders of various sizes, which are taken from 

 the mud of the river bottoms. The land rock occurs 

 in masses varying in size from small stones to boulders 

 weighing many tons. 



