THE LOWER PINE BELT, OR SAVANNA REGION. 51 



ten millions of tons. And in effect this company (which is the only 

 thoroughly equipped river mining company now at work, 1881) con- 

 .«ider. in spite of their large plant, consisting of extensive drying sheds 

 and wharves, three heavy dredges, four large steam tugs, sixty large flats 

 and a numerous fleet of smaller ones, besides washers, workshops, &c.. 

 by which they daily raise and prepare for market hundreds of tons of 

 rock, that their supply of material is practically unlimited. From the 

 works of this company fleets of dredging boats belonging to other parties 

 may be seen at work, and in the neighborhood there are several well 

 known localities where rock as rich, as abundant, and, with suitable ma- 

 chinery as accessible, is found, but which remain unworked. It seems re- 

 markable that while coal mining at great depths is found profitable, 

 when the product sells at $3.00 per ton, that capital has not more eagerly 

 sought employment in these superficial deposits, worth never less than 

 $5.00, and now $0.00 per ton. 



There are ten (1881) companies engaged in land mining. The land 

 either belongs to them or is leased by them for a term of years. Parallel 

 ditches, two yards wide, are sunk through the soft soil to a depth of 4 feet 

 to 7 feet, to the stratum of sand or mud in which the loose layer of phos- 

 phate nodules is found. The rock is shoveled out, thrown into heaps 

 and transported by rail to the washers situated on the wharves, whence it 

 is shipped. A common laborer will raise a ton a day, for which he is 

 paid $1.75. The product of the land rock is about 100,000 tons a year, 

 and the most of it is ground and manufactured into acid phosphates and 

 other fertilizers, by the eight manufacturing companies within the State. 



The river miners work under charters from the State, which grant 

 them a general right to Avork a specified territory with any other comers, 

 or under an exclusive right to such territory. In either case they pay a 

 royalty .to the State of $1.00 for every ton of rock raised. The river 

 works yield about 10(1,000 tons of rock per annum ; being harder, and 

 therefore more difficult to grind, it has been mostly shipped to foreign or 

 northern ports to be manufactured. Labor receives good wages at this 

 work. Divers raising the rock from a depth of 10 feet or 12 feet, paid by 

 the amount raised, working IJ hours on the ebb and IJ on the flood tide, 

 earn as much as $18 a week. This work is neither dangerous or un- 

 healthy, and those engaged in it seem to enjoy their aquatic exercise. It 

 is thought that large quantities of rock underlie the salt marshes between 

 the high and low water mark, which would be the property of the State. 

 So far very little work, and no extensive exploration, has been made in 

 this direction. In fact, vast cpantities of the best rock yet unworked 

 cover the bcttom of many of these rivers. 



The total amount of phosphate rock mined from the 1st of June, 1874, 



