40 CLASSIFICATION^ OF THB PUBLIC LANDS. 



. which such a condition is possible, is not suited to the disposition of 

 phosphate deposits. 



Still another consideration led to the withdrawal of phosphate 

 lands. Agriculture in the United States is comparatively young, so 

 that the exhaustion of lands from long-continued use has not yet 

 begun to be generally felt. In a large part of Europe, however, phos- 

 phate fertilization has become an economic necessity, and as a result 

 the greater part of the phosphate mined in this country is being ex- 

 ported. It has seemed to many students of the situation that the 

 United States should not part with a deposit so vital to its agricul- 

 tural future. Pending consideration of this question by Congress, as 

 well as the enactment of laws more applicable than the lode and placer 

 laws, the first phosphate withdrawal was made by the Department 

 of the Interior on December 9, 1908. Other withdrawals have been 

 made from time to time as additional valuable deposits of phosphate 

 have been discovered. Since the first withdrawal the known area of 

 phosphate lands has been greatly increased by the explorations of 

 the Geological Survey, and the reserves now include lands in Wyo- 

 ming, Idaho, Utah, Montana, and Florida. 



POTASH liANBS. 



The agricultural industry of the United States hag begun to feel 

 the need for the rejuvenation of lands by the application of potash. 

 All of this mineral heretofore used, in manufacturing as well as 

 in agriculture, has been imported from Germany. A threatened 

 termination of the supply from that source by the German Gov- 

 ernment lent acute interest to the question whether or not potash 

 deposits are to be found in the United States, and on March 4, 1911, 

 Congress appropriated $20,000 for research and exploration for pot- 

 ash deposits by the Geological Survey. This appropriation was re- 

 newed the following year. Promising indications have been dis- 

 covered, exploration work is being actively continued, and three areas 

 have been found where the existence of potash salts warrants with- 

 drawal of the lands. The first potash withdrawal covered one of 

 these areas and was made on January 16, 1913. It is the present 

 intention to recommend the withdrawal of all valuable deposits 

 found and all lands in which there is a reasonable probability of the 

 occurrence of valuable potash, these withdrawals to remain in force 

 until Congress has provided more appropriate legislation than the 

 existing placer law. 



MBTAIiLTPBROTJS MUTEHAL IjAITDS. 



An unusual type of withdrawal, designated " Mineral-land with- 

 drawal No. 1," was made in Arizona by the President on September 

 23, 1912. It covers an area in which investigations made bv the Geo- 



