﻿BULLETIN 



OF 



A 



THE 



No. 18 



Contribution from the Bureau of Soils, Milton Whitney, Chie 

 October I, 1913. 



A REPORT ON THE PHOSPHATE FIELDS OF 

 SOUTH CAROLINA. 



By Wm. H. Waccamax, 

 Scientist in Investigation of Fertilizer Resources. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The firs ^important discoveries of phosphorites or amorphous phos- 

 phates madain this country were those of South Carolina. For many- 

 years these fields furnished most of our supply and much of Europe's. 

 But during the last 20 years the output has been gradually diminish- 

 ing, owing in part to the exhaustion of the more readily accessible 

 rock, but chiefly to the marketing of higher-grade phosphate from 

 other sources. 



Although many interesting and valuable articles and papers on 

 these deposits have been published from the time of their first explo- 

 ration in 1868 down to the year 1904, conditions in these fields have 

 changed so materially during the last decade that it is thought 

 advisable to issue the present bulletin. This reviews briefly the his- 

 tory of South Carolina phosphates, describes the present methods of 

 mining and handling the rock, shows what disposal is being made of 

 the product, and discusses the future of the industry. 



HISTORY. 



The existence of the phosphate stratum was known for many years 

 before its true nature and value were recognized. As far back as 

 1839 1 the upper portion of the heavy marl (including the phosphate 

 stratum) was known as the "Fish Bed" of the Charleston Basin on 

 account of the numerous teeth and bones of marine animals contained 

 therein. In 1842 Edmund Ruffin 2 made an agricultural survey of 

 South Carolina, but his report, Which was issued the following year, 

 dealt chiefly with the occurrence and extent of the marls of the State. 

 Holmes 3 states that he and some of his associates submitted samples 

 of the nodular phosphate to Ruffin for examination, but apparently 



i Holmes, F. S. The Phosphate Rocks of South Carolina, p. 65 (18V0). 



2 Chazal. A Sketch of the South Carolina Phosphate Industry, p. 34 (1904). 



3 The Phosphate Rocks of South Carolina, p. .57 (1870). 

 7033°— 12 



