790 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



was making his statement the Geological 

 Survey received a communication from 

 the German consul at Atlanta, Georgia, 

 stating that he had seen the notice of 

 withdrawal of public phosphate lands, 

 and that, as it was of the greatest interest 

 to the German importers of phosphate 

 rock to know to what extent they might 

 depend on the output and exportation of 

 phosphate rock in the United States, he 

 requested such publications as might per- 

 tain to the subject. "It would especially 

 interest me to know," he wrote, "the 

 exact extent of the areas containing 

 phosphate rock, and to be informed 

 which of such lands are owned by the 

 United States and by different individu- 

 als, States, and private companies." It 

 will appear from this that the foreign 

 fertilizer interests did in fact have their 

 eyes turned toward these western fields 

 for exploitation following the exhaustion 

 •of the eastern deposits. 



As little is known by the great major- 

 ity of farmers on the subject of fertilizer 

 as perhaps any vital problem which con- 

 fronts them, and many a man applies 

 •expensive nitrogen and potash to land 

 which needs only phosphorus. 



The Ohio Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, in a long series of experiments 

 with crops of corn, oats, wheat, clover, 

 and timothy, has shown that every dollar 

 invested in phosphorus paid back $4.76 

 under conditions in which neither nitro- 

 _gen nor potash paid back their cost. The 

 same station has found as the average 

 •of 56 tests in 11 years' work that when 

 rock phosphate was applied in connection 

 with manure every dollar invested in 

 phosphate paid back $5.68. 



Other interesting experiments have 

 shown that raw phosphate rock, ground 

 very fine and applied directly to the land 

 without chemical treatment, is in most 

 -cases far more beneficial than what is 

 known as acid-phosphate or phosphate 

 rock dissolved with sulphuric acid. 

 Until recently it had been assumed that, 

 unless so dissolved and made "available" 

 for the plant's use, phosphate rock was 

 of no value as a fertilizer. It is now 

 Icnown that for use on all but very thin 



or impoverished lands raw phosphate will 

 produce equal if not greater crops than 

 the dissolved phosphate, while the sul- 

 phuric acid treatment approximately 

 doubles the cost per ton of the phosphate 

 and the fertilizing value is only about 

 one-half. As a permanent improver of 

 soils the untreated rock has much greater 

 efficiency. 



In dozens of State and Federal experi- 

 ments the great increase in crop yield on 

 almost all soils through the use of phos- 

 phate has been clearly proven. 



Our first phosphate mining began in 

 South Carolina in 1868. That State has 

 since mined 12,000,000 tons, but her sup- 

 ply is largely exhausted. Florida came 

 forward in 1888 as a great phosphate 

 field, and she has produced 15,850,000 

 tons and is now the greatest producing 

 State. In 1908 her output was 1,692,102 

 tons, valued at $8,500,000. 



Tennessee phosphates were discovered 

 in 1892, and this field became the greatest 

 then known. About 5,800,000 tons have 

 thus far been produced and the develop- 

 ment of the field is yet in its infancy. 

 However, considered as the sole source 

 of supply, at the present rate of increase 

 in national production the Tennessee 

 phosphates would last only 11 years. 



Arkansas next entered the field as a 

 phosphate producer, but the rock is low 

 grade and the output is small. Then 

 came the discovery, a few" years ago, of 

 the great phosphate field of Wyoming, 

 Utah, and Idaho, and it is in this and 

 in the public phosphate lands of Florida 

 that lies the hope of the American farm. 

 On the basis of a rough reconnaissance 

 three years since the United States Geo- 

 logical Survey estimated the tonnage of 

 this western field at 63,000,000 tons, but 

 further field work has shown this to be 

 much too low. It is to be hoped, and it 

 is the belief of the writer, that the de- 

 tailed geologic investigation of this large 

 field now in progress will show this fig- 

 ure several times multiplied. 



Pending the proposed legislation by 

 Congress, the known government phos- 

 phate lands remain safely tied up by the 

 executive branch of the government^ 



