THE PHOSPHATE MINES. 113 



Carbonate of lime, ....... 6.24 



Sulphate of lime, ....... 5.75 



Phosphate of lime, . . . . . . .63.21 



Phosphate of iron, . . . . . . . 5.3 



" The phosphatic nodules lie so close to one another that the 

 amount produced from the best land appears incredible. Where 

 the stratum is fifteen to eighteen inches in thickness, the actual 

 yield exceeds, in some cases, 1,300 tons to the acre ; and much 

 is wasted, the smallest lumps being neglected entirely. 



" The mining of the deposits is easy, requiring only'the dig- 

 ging a trench and picking out the nodules with a pick, the 

 nodules being thrown into carts, placed on railways in some 

 cases, the loose earth being thrown to the rear. The phosphates 

 are brought to the river-bank, washed in large cylinders (and 

 this is easily accomplished by a rotating motion which, with the 

 running water, frees the nodules from the dirt attached to 

 them.) Vessels can come up to the banks of the river and 

 load there ; the river admits as large vessels as can cross 

 Charleston bar. Since my departure from Charleston, in fact 

 before then, extensive discoveries had been made to the south 

 and south-west of Charleston ; large beds of fine phosphates 

 have been discovered, and speculators were buying up land on 

 every side at prices averaging at ten dollars an acre. It has 

 been written to me that solid beds of phosphatic rock have been 

 found, of large extent and more than two feet in thickness. 

 The whole country is so cut np by rivers and bays that it will 

 be a comparatively easy matter to bring the stuff to market. 



" The raw phosphates, clean and dry, were said to bring about 

 fifteen dollars a ton in Philadelphia last winter. This appears 

 to me too high, especially if labor continues to be as abundant 

 as it is in the South, and the extent of the deposit so great. A 

 man can dig, under favorable circumstances, half a ton a day, 

 and be hired for less than a dollar a day (with food and shelter 

 furnished besides.) Irishmen have been employed during the 

 winter months. They do not work steadily, however ; and 

 white labor is impossible during the summer months in these 

 unhealthy localities. The negroes, when left to themselves, 

 work well, and can continue their labor through the entire 

 summer with impunity. It is a good practice to pay them ofif 

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