60 QUARTERLY JOURNAL, 



PHOSPHATE OF LIME. 



It is an object of great importance to discover phosphate of 

 ^ime in its pure state, or even mixed with other materials, in suffi- 

 cient quantity to supply the wants of agriculture. We fear, how- 

 ever, that this desideratum will not be realized very soon. Al- 

 though it cannot be said to be rare, yet it is not known to exist in 

 large beds, and very rarely in small ones. The common mode of 

 its occurrence in the mineral kingdom is either in small dissemi- 

 nated particles, or in crystals varying in size from a needle to five 

 inches in diameter. When occurring in crystals it is never in suf- 

 ficient quantity to meet at all the wants of farming ; and in fact, 

 these crystals are so highly esteemed by mineralogists, and so high 

 a value placed upon them, that no one would ever think of spoiling 

 them, or of devoting them to any other purpose than to adorn the 

 cabinet. There are only two localities know-n in JNew-York which 

 can possibly yield an amount sufficient to render it an object to the 

 farmer. One of these places is seven or ten miles west of Port 

 Kent, on Hogback mountain, at the iron ore bed of Messrs. Thom- 

 linson & McDonald, or which is know^n in the Geological Report 

 of the 2d District, as the Rutger's ore bed. At this bed it forms 

 in some parts, nearly one-half the mass of the vein or bed ; at others 

 considerably less. It is, how^ever, the principal stoney matter of 

 the bed near the surface. The phosphate of lime of this locality 

 may be obtained at the place where the ore is separated. The 

 kind of stoney matter mixed with the ore is feldspar and horn- 

 blende, mostly the former — hence, the whole material separated 

 from the ore could be preserved and ground like plaster, and used 

 as a fertilizer. The best way of using such a powder, would be 

 to put a small quantity in the earth with the seed, or apply it as 

 directly to the growing plant as possible. Let it be understood, how- 

 ever, that this locality is not of very great importance ; the wash- 

 ing of the ore, however, would supply several farmers with this 

 invaluable substance. We have mentioned this locality that it 

 may not be lost, to those certainly who live in the immediate 

 neighborhood ; for they ought to secure it for their gardens at 



