AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[January, 
SO 
QUARRYING PHOSPHATES IN SOUTH CAROLINA.— Drcucn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
of an instance where the introduction of a herd 
of Jersey cattle into a county in five years led 
to the dissemination of the stock all through it, 
and the increase, of course, now is in a much 
greater ratio than in the first five years. We 
know that already the butter in that particular 
district has shown a marked improvement, and 
that the storekeepers in 1 lie different villages 
are in consequence beginning to grade the 
butter. Now, this is an important thing, as a 
farmer who produces a superior article likes to 
know that he gets a higher price than is brought 
FOSSIL SHAKES’ TEETH. 
by a lardy, greasy one, and that all the butter 
from various dairies is not dumped together. 
Again, in hogs an improvement is much needed, 
more particularly east of the Alleghanies. We 
want an early maturing pig that does not need 
to be wintered over, and that can he made into 
pork any time after three or four months. An 
Essex or Berkshire boar would bring such stock, 
and five farmers might jointly secure a very 
choice one, that each one singly would not he 
warranted in purchasing. It is unnecessary to 
carry this subject further. This is the time to 
think and act upon it, and the season is approach¬ 
ing when i! might be carried into operation. 
The South Carolina Phosphates. 
Without discussing the question whether the 
various treasures hidden beneath the earth’s 
surface were deposited there in former ages ex¬ 
pressly for man’s use, it is net the less interest¬ 
ing to notice that when these deposits are 
really needed they come to light. It was only 
when wood became scarce and the population 
large that coal was discovered. When whales 
became much reduced in numbers, and their 
capture costly, then petroleum came to supply 
the place of oil. And, later still, when impov¬ 
erished fields are nearly valueless, an almost 
inexhaustible supply of phosphates is opened 
and utilized. The South Carolina phosphates 
are the remains of fishes and other animals, 
and though the deposit has long been known 
to geologists, it is only within a few years that 
it has assumed an economical importance. The 
principal beds are seven miles above Charleston, 
upon the Ashley River, along the banks of 
which they extend for ten or fifteen miles. 
Mr. Woodward, one of our artists, while at 
the South visited these beds and made some 
sketches. To get out the phosphate, a trench is 
opened by digging first through the shallow but 
rich top-soil, then through sandy subsoil, when, 
about two feet below the surface, is found a 
stratum of phosphates in the form of nodules, 
packed closely together. This bed is from four 
to eighteen inches in thickness, sometimes in¬ 
creasing to two or three feet. The nodules are 
irregular in form, and appear as if water-worn, 
the majority presenting no organic forms to the 
ordinary observer, but a microscopic examina¬ 
tion reveals the structure of bone. Well-pre¬ 
served animal remains are however found with 
the nodules, among these the teeth of huge 
sharks in excellent condition, the teeth of mas¬ 
todons, and enormous vertebrae, which geolo¬ 
gists say belonged to some monsters which 
lived ages ago. Not only do these organic 
forms indicate th<y animal origin of these de¬ 
posits, but their chemical composition affords 
further evidence. The nodules, being loosened 
by a pick, are thrown out of the trench and 
taken to a washing apparatus, where a stream 
of water clears them of adhering clay and sand, 
and they are ready for sale in their crude state 
or to go to the factory to be manipulated. So 
tooth of mastodon (set in plaster). 
abundant is this deposit, that an acre is esti¬ 
mated to contain about thirteen hundred tons. 
These natural phosphates contain sixty percent, 
more or less, of phosphate of lime, which by 
the action of sulphuric acid is easily converted 
into superphosphate, the form in which it is 
most available as a fertilizer. There are a num¬ 
ber of factories engaged in the manufacture of 
fertilizers upon the spot where the deposits are 
found. So great is the consumption of sul¬ 
phuric acid for this purpose that establish¬ 
ments have been erected at hand for making it 
