JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY 
OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 
Volume XXX. 
1.— THE DETERIORATION OF JUTE MATERIALS 
IN CONTACT WITH SUPERPHOSPHATE AND 
MIXTURES CONTAINING SUPERPHOSPHATE. 
By 
L. J. H. Teakle* and H. E. HiliJ. 
Read 10th August, 1943. 
INTRODUCTION. 
Superphosphate is now one of the most important of the world’s arti- 
ficial fertilisers and the annual pre-war consumption amounted to nearly 
15,000,000 tons. It is commonly marketed in jute containers. These suffer 
some damage in contact with the superphosphate and considerable economic 
loss and inconvenience are sometimes incurred. 
The protection of jute bags used for the transport of superphosphate 
has received a great deal of attention in the past, particularly by manufac- 
turers, and the value of many treatments has been tested under field con- 
ditions. Unfortunately, the great majority of the tests have led to incon- 
clusive results and there appears to be little standardisation— at least in 
Australia — of practices designed to lengthen the serviceable life of bags used 
for superphosphate. Pre-treatment of bags with suitable chemicals is re- 
ported to be routine practice in many factories in some countries, but in 
Western Australia the use of high grade Nauru and Ocean Island rocks in 
the past has rendered any action unnecessary as a general rule. Every 
season some complaints of severe damage have been received, but these are 
not numerous and are confined to parcels railed in the very hottest weather. 
During the summer period of 1941/42 when a proportion of rock 
phosphate from the Egyptian ports of Kosseir and Sofaga was used in 
the manufacture of superphosphate, many complaints were received regard- 
ing the damage to superphosphate bags and railway tarpaulins. The com- 
plaints were so general that it was apparent that some new factor had 
arisen and would need to be controlled for adequate protection of bags and 
tarpaulins used in the despatch of superphosphate made from Egyptian 
rock. 
Attempts had been made, before the introduction of Egyptian phos- 
phate, to devise protective treatments. In 1919 the Agricultural Depart- 
ment recommended that empty bags on farms should be dipped in milk of 
* Plant Nutrition Officer, Department of Agriculture, 
f Supervising Chemist, Government Chemical Laboratory. 
