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Agricultural Experiment Station. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 'xaMEJVTS OF .Chas. W. Dabney, Jr. NORTH CAROLINA Agricultural Experiment Station, :fo:r 1884. Published toy order of the Board of A griculture.' RALEIGH: P. M. HALE, STATE PRINTER AND BINDER. 1885. Office of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, Raleigh, N. C, March 15th, 1885. To Governor A. M. Scales, Chairman of the Board of Agriculture : Sir:—I have the honor to submit herewith the Annual Report of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station for the year 1884. I trust it will prove satisfactory to 3'our Excellency and the Board of Agriculture. Respectfully yours, CHAS. W. DABNEY, Jr., Director. Presses of Edwards, Broughton & Co., Raleigh, N. C. N. C. STAT3 LIBRARY. Nerlh Garelina State Beard of Agricaltare. 1884. Governor THOMAS J. JARVIS, {Ex Officio), Chairman. Col. Thomas M. Holt, ! Col. W. Forney Green, President of the State Agric. Society. 4th Congressional District. Kemp P. Battle, LL. D., \ Col. J. D. Glenn, President of the State University. 5 th Congressional District. W. R. Williams, Esq., John RoBINSONf Esq., Master of the State Grange, Patrons 6th Congressional District, of Husbandry. Col. R. W. Wharton, 1st Congressional District. Dr. A. G. Brooks, 2d Congressional District. John A. Oates, Esq., | Dr. C. D. Smith, 3d Congressional District. | 9th Congressional District. A. Leazar, Esq., 7th Congressional District. Burwell Blanton, Esq., 8th Congressional District. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Gov. THOMAS J. JARVIS, Col. THOMAS M. HOLT, Col. W. F. GREEN. OFFICERS. MONTFORD McGEHEE, Commissioner. PETER M. WILSON, Secretary. STEPHEN G. WORTH, Suft of Fish and Fisheries. CHARLES W. DABNEY, Jr., Chemist and Ditector of the Experiment Station. ASSISTANTS IN THE EXPERIMENT STATION. Balduin von Herff, Ph. D. Frank B. Dancy, A. B. Herbert B. Battle, B. S. W. A. Withers, A. B. 4 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. THE NORTH CAROLINA Agricultural Experiment Station, This institution was established by Act of the General Assembly of 1877, for the advancement of North Carolina agriculture. The Station now occupies the large and hand-some apartments assigned it in the Agricultural Depart-ment Building in Raleigh. The Laboratory is a complete one in every respect. Every North Carolina farmer, and every person interested in developing our agriculture or other industries, has a right to call upon the Station for any information or assistance which it is within the province of the Station to render : and the Station will do all that lies in its power to meet these requests. The work of the Station will include, as heretofore : The analysis of all Fertilizers legally on sale in the State ; The analysis of Agricultural Chemicals, of Composts and Home-made Fertilizers, and of all materials from which they can be made; The analysis of Soils, Marls and Mucks; The analysis of Feeding-Stuffs; The examination of Seeds with reference to their purity, and capacity to germinate. The examination of Grasses and Weeds; The study of Insects injurious to vegetation ; The analysis of Minerals, Ores and Mineral waters; The analysis of Drinking Waters, and Articles of Food ; Practical experiments upon different crops, with different manures, &c. Numerous publications upon these and kindred subjects are mailed free of charge. Correspondence is invited upon subjects pertaining to scientific agriculture. Address Dr. CHAS. W. DABNEY, Jr, Director, Raleigh, N. 0. Directions for Sending Samples. 5 DIRECTIONS FOR SENDING SAMPLES. Fertilizers are sampled by the regular Inspector for official analysis. When other analyses are necessary, take a sample from at least one-tenth of the packages in the lot, mix these samples thoroughly upon a sheet of paper, draw a half pound sample from this pile, put it into an air-tight pack-age and send to the Station as directed below. Fill up the "Form for Description of Fertilizer Samples," and send by mail. Chemicals, Composts, Manures, Feeding-stuffs and Arti-cles of Food may be sampled in similar manner. Soils, Marls and Mucks are best sampled by taking at a spot of supposed average character, a section from top to sub-soil, or from top to bottom of the layer, and packing it closely in a cigar box so that it cannot break up. Mineral and Drinking Waters must be put up in clean two to five gallon jugs or demijohns, securely packed in straw. The Express Company transports all kinds of samples when properly packed. Parcels by Express, to receive attention, must be prepaid. By mail, as fourth class matter (one cent for each ounce), can be sent the following : Samples of ores, minerals, marls, seeds, plant-cuttings, bulbs, roots, feeding-stuffs—all kinds of samples, in fact, except liquids, poisons, explosive or in-flammable articles and articles liable to injure the mail bag or persons handling ; packed in pasteboard boxes or paper and securely tied. Samples of fertilizers, chemicals, com-posts and mucks must be put in a glass bottle, sealed, and the bottle then packed in a wooden or tin box in cotton or saw dust, to be forwarded by mail. Write your name and address, preceded by the word " from " upon all packages, and put some mark, word or number upon them by which to identify them. Enter this mark or number upon the " Form." This is very important. Instructions and forms for sending samples, on application. Address all packages to Experiment Station, P. 0. Drawer 33. Raleigh, N. G. 6 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. PUBLICATIONS OF THE Herth CareliFia Exxperirr\erit Station 1878 to 1885. This list includes reports, special publications and con-tributions to the Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture, but excludes all circulars, directions, and forms. Unless marked otherwise, they are unbound. The following were issued under the Directorship of Dr. Albert R. Ledoux : Directions for making Vinegar, 1878, 4 pages ; Analyses and Valuations of Fertilizers, 1877-78, 3© pages ; Ville's formulae for composting and others, furnished by Dr. Ledoux, 1878, 16 pages ; The Sugar Beet in North Carolina, 1878, 50 pages ; Silica vs. Ammonia, results of comparative soil-tests of Popplein's Silicated Phosphate, with a number of ammo-niated guanos, 1878, 24 pages: Analyses and Valuations of Fertilizers for 1877 and 1878, republished, 1879, 16 pages ; Report of the Director to the Legislature, January, 1879, Document No. 8, 16 pages; Analyses and Valuations of Fertilizers for 1879, 8 pages; Formulae for composting, 1879, 16 pages; Report of the Station for 1879, (bound) 198 pages; Report of the Station for 1880, including Analyses of Fer-tilizers for that year, (bound) 148 pages. The following were issued by Dr. Charles W. Dabney, Jr. : Report to the Legislature, January, 1881, 16 pages; Analyses of Drinking Waters, Bulletin for January, 1881 Value of active ingredients of Fertilizers, Bulletin for February, 1881; Publications. 7 The use of Agricultural Chemicals, Bulletin for March, 1881; Analyses and Valuations of Fertilizers and Chemicals, 1881, 16 pages; Adulterated Chemicals, Bulletin for July, 1881 ; Analyses and Valuations of Fertilizers, 2d edition, 1881, 12 pages ; Report of the Station for 1881, (bound) 172 pages; Trade in Fertilizers—Extension in Cotton Culture, Bul-letin for January, 1882; Home-made Manures—High-manuring on Cotton, Bulle-tin for February, 1882; Does Cotton exhaust ? Cotton seed and its uses, Bulletin for March, 1882; Stable Manure, saved and composted—Rice products as a feeding-stuff, Bulletin for April, 1882 ; Analyses of Fertilizers, 1882, 8 pages ; Analyses of Fertilizers, 2d edition, 1882, 12 pages; Experience with Home-made Manures, Bulletin for June, 1882; Report of work done for the State Board of Health, 1881, 8 pages ; Treatment of Cotton Lands—Station at State Fair, Bul-letin for October, 1882 ; Report of the Station 1882, (bound) 152 pages ; Horn, Leather and Wool-waste, and the Fertilizers made from them, 1882, 10 pages ; Finely-ground Phosphates or "Floats," 1882, 10 pages; On Kainite, 1882, 28 pages; Rice and its Products—Food and Fodder plants, Bulletin May, 1882 ; The Soja Bean—Waste products of Tobacco Factories, Bulletin May, 1883 ; Analyses of Fertilizers, 1883, 16 pages; Analyses of Fertilizers, 2d Edition, 1883, 16 pages; Cotton seed and its Products, Bulletin June, 1883 ; 8 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. N. C. Resources for Commercial Fertilizers, I. Ammoniates; II. Potash sources, Bulletin Dec, 1883; III. Phosphates, Bulletin, January, 1884; The trade in Fertilizers during 1883, 12 pages; Cost of the Ingredients of Fertilizers, Bulletin Feb., 1884 ; The Phosphate Investigation, Bulletin March, 1884; Analyses of Fertilizers, season of 1884, 16 pages ; Composition of N. C. Phospbates,®Bulletin April, 1884; N. C. Phosphates, report on, 26 pages; Report of Station, 1883, (bound) 104 pages. Report oe the Director. 9 REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE Agricultural Experiment Station, FOR 1884. WORK OF THE STATION DURING THE YEAR. The requirements of the law regarding the work of the Station may be classified as follows: The analysis of all fertilizers legally on sale in the State. The analysis of agricultural chemicals, of composts and home-made fertilizers and all materials from which they can be made. The analysis of soils, marls and mucks. The analysis of feeding-stuffs. The examination of seeds with reference to their purity and capacity to germinate. The examination of grasses and weeds. The study of insects injurious to vegetation. The analysis of minerals, ores and mineral waters for the State Geologist. The analysis of drinking water, articles of food, (fee, for the State Board of Health. Practical experiments upon different crops, with different manures, upon new crops which it may be desirable to in-troduce, and upon such other subjects as the Department may direct. Some work has been done in all of these directions as will be seen. The Station continues to be chiefly occupied with the work of the Fertilizer Control and that connected 10 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. with the home production of manures. This is, after all, the subject of the greatest interest and importance to our farming community. The trade in fertilizers is permanently established in North Carolina, and their use will undoubtedly increase with the development of our lands. Much is being said at present about the importance of manufactures to the people of the South. We must manufacture cotton, it is argued, because we produce the crude material and send it beyond our borders to be manufactured and consumed. It is vastly more important for us to manufacture fertilizers, for which we have the crude material and which we con-sume at home. The overwhelming importance of this sub-ject induced the Station to devote a great deal of time and labor to searching out and examining the resources of North Carolina for the production of fertilizers. It is impossible to go into the discussion of the details of this great subject at this place. It must be sufficient to say, briefly, that the results of our study of it show that nothing fails North Carolina from which to produce one hundred thousand tons of fertilizer per annum except, perhaps, a part of the potash, which is imported, for the most part, from Germany for all fertilizer factories, and might just as well be brought to our ports direct as to Baltimore, New York or Charleston. Our fisheries, our cotton seed oil-mills, the gas-works of our towns and our slaughter-houses would supply all of the ammoniating materials necessary, if properly saved. The marls and limestones of the eastern section of the State are sufficient to produce any quantity of lime manures. PHOSPHATES. The special feature of the work of the Experiment Station during last year is the phosphate investigation, and the dis-covery of workable beds of this important material is the Work of Station During the Year. 11 most significant recent occurrence in the material develop-ment of the State. The existence of regular beds of phos-phate, which had been little more than rumored before that time, was definitely determined by the work of the Station and the Engineer of the Board during 1884. The details of this investigation are published in this re-port, but it will be well to give a resume of the results at this place. Numerous beds of phosphates have been discovered in Sampson and Duplin counties, chiefly between Faison's on the north, Hallsville on the east, Wallace Station on the south, and Clinton on the west, which is a territory about twenty miles square. Outside of this territory beds have been noted on Cohorn Creek in Onslow, on Core Creek in Jones, in Craven, Pender, New Hanover, Bladen, Columbus and probably Brunswick, all of which need to be more thor-oughly explored. Seventy-one different localities in the Sampson-Duplin territory were examined, and workable beds of phosphates, of a greater or less extent, were found in fifty-eight of these. Undoubtedly many beds exist in the same territory which are not yet known. The average amount of phosphate of lime in twenty-five samples, from beds near-est the line of the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, was forty-one per cent. Phosphate rock of this character was successfully manufactured into superphosphate, distributed over the State last Spring, and tested by some of the lead-ing farmers. Eleven-hundredths of an acre yielded forty-eight tons of clean rock, at a cost of one hundred and sixty-five dollars for excavation, hauling and loading on board the cars. From a portion of this, 20 tons of acid phosphate were made and distributed to 130 farmers. Reports from 55 of these farmers, which have been received, are very favorable to the North Carolina superphosphate. These experiments show beyond a doubt not only that we have good phosphates, but that they will produce results in the field equal to other phosphates. The phosphate reconnois- 12 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. sance of the Sampson-Duplin territory above mentioned, gives us the following totals : Total number of acres accurately explored 124.98; total number of pits dug 790 ; total cubic feet of earth excavated 69,719 ; total pounds of phosphate rock actually weighed 75,495 ; calculated average tons per acre 406.98 ; total tons of phosphate rock in the 124.98 acres explored 50,864.48, or This 'particular 124.98 acres will yield enough phosphate rock to make all of the superphosphates sold in North Carolina in one year. In addition to the above we have explored extensive beds of phosphates and marls mixed together, occurring in New Hanover and Pender counties. This material was also tried on various crops last year with encouraging results. This is a deposit of great importance and merits a special exploration. One hundred and thirty-seven analyses of phosphates were made at the Station for the regular phosphate survey and thirty for property owners. The phosphate reconnoissance has resulted in the discov-ery of many rich marl beds which were not before known to exist. The results obtained in the development of marl beds are well worth all the time and money devoted to this work. It is gratifying to be able to report some progress in the matter of the home production of fertilizers. Two years ago there was only one company in the State which manipu-lated superphosphates. This was the Navassa Guano Com-pany at Wilmington, which has a large plant of acid cham-bers, mills, mixers, &o, and dees an extensive business. In 1884 we have, in addition to the above, the Durham Fertilizer Company, the Goldsboro Oil and Fertilizer Com-pany, the (Tarboro) Enterprise Fertilizer Company, and the Raleigh Oil Mill and Fertilizer Company, all manipulators of superphosphates and doing a good business. For several years the Station has discussed in the news-papers, in the Bulletin of the Agricultural Department, Work of Station During the Year. 13 and in the annual reports, the subject of milling cotton seed. The use made of this important seed illustrates the progress of agriculture in the cotton country better than anything else. Years ago cotton seed was not used at all, but left to rot at the gin-houses, producing a pestilential stench, which led them to be regarded simply as a nuisance. Then it was ascertained that they were a valuable manure, and they were killed by fermentation, in the manure heaps and used upon the soil. Next, the farmer learned how to make a complete manure by composting his cotton seed with phosphate and potash salts. This state of things rep-resented a vast improvement though it was far short of what should be. Each ton of cotton seed contains about thirty-five gallons of Valuable oil, besides the solid material of its kernel and its hull, which are not injured by the re-moval of the oil. The kernels, after they are pressed, give a rich meal which should all be used for food for stock. As this meal is rich in nitrogen, and contains some phosphoric acid and potash, it makes a valuable fertilizer also. After urging this matter upon the attention of the people of the State for several years, it is gratifying to be able to say that there are oil-mills in successful operation atthefollowingplaces: Golds-boro, New Berne, Elizabeth City, Washington, Raleigh, Charlotte, and Cronly's, near Wilmington. The meal will be utilizedas a fertilizer in a decreasing degree for someyears, while its use as a feed will increase. Many other mills will follow, and, when our people shall learn how easy it is to convert it into milk, butter and meat, cotton seed will become as important a product of our farms as corn or wheat. The regular work of the Station was interrupted again in 1884, as it was in 1883, by Expositions. The order of the Board requiring the Director and several of his assistants to assist in the preparations for the Exhibit of the State at the State Exposition in October, and the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition at New Orleans, commencing in December, deprived the Station of the work of these men 14 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. during four months of the year. This detracted largely from the year's results, and prevented the undertaking of investigations requiring much time to complete. The following is a list of the subjects investigated and articles analyzed at the Station during 1884: Articles Analyzed. t Ntimber. Commercial fertilizers, official 116, private 34, total 15c Composts 4 Marls, phosphatic 39 Phosphates 167 Soils 18 Kainite 5 Cotton seed and Cotton seed meal 2 Dissolved bone and bone meal 3 Gluten 2 Krugite I, sulphate of magnesia 1 2 Plants I, bugs I, identified _ 2 Feeding stuff _ I Licorice I, whisky I 2 Minerals 152, building stones 2, boiler deposit [ 155 Waters, drinking _ 22 Waters, mineral . 54 Coals - - - - - 12 Flour 1, ashes 2 .- - 3 642 The number of analyses made during 1881 was 450; dur-ing 1882, 459 ; during 1883 it was 453 ; during 1884, 642. The following publications were made by the Experiment Station, under directions of the Board, during ]884: Name. No. copies distributed. The Fertilizer Control - - 2,000 Catalogue of the North Carolina Exhibit at Boston 8,000 The North Carolina Phosphates - - 2,000 The Analysis of Fertilizers - 15.000 The Report of the Station for 18S3 -- 10,000 37,000 Work of Station During the Year. 15 The Director feels constrained to repeat the following re-marks from the reoort to vour honorable Board for 1882 : AN EXPERIMENTAL FARM. The third clause of section twelve of An Act to Establish a Department of Agriculture, &c, reads: " He (the Chemist) shall also, under the direction of the said department, carry on experiments on the nutrition and growth of plants with a view to ascertain what fertilizers are best suited to the va-rious crops of this State, and whether othir crops may not be advantageously grown on its soils, and shall carry on such other investigations as the said department may direct." The law thus distinctly provides for practical farm ex-periments by your State Chemist. But how is the Chemist to perform his duty? At present he has no effectual means whatever of so doing. We believe that the time has now arrived when this work can and ought to be started. Our other arrangements are ail complete. The expenditures upon the Expositions are supposed to be at an end. Our people expect progress of us. We have no right to stand back from any work which we are thus directed to do, and which will tend to promote the progress of agriculture in the State. There are thousands of questions which call for careful, scientific investigation. These problems require special training on the part of the experimenters, and they require time, care and money, which the ordinary farmer cannot command. These results are for the general benefit, and it is the duty of the State to perform them. In the nature of things, the ordinary farmer cannot make them for himself. We in North Carolina have our own peculiar problems connected writh our own special crops. There are questions of the greatest importance connected with cotton, tobacco, 16 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. and corn, which demand our attention, and it is not proba-ble that anybody can or will solve them for us. We urge you to the investment of a moderate amount in an experimental farm, again, as a means of turning our present investment in the chemical laboratory to better ac-count. Theory and practice go hand in hand in the natural sciences. Our experiments in the laboratory are necessarily much limited, if we cannot test them in practice. If we had an associated farm, our laboratory work would be able to ex-pand into far greater usefulness. We would then be able to unite the two great motors of modern scientific progress, hy-pothesis and experiment, in one effort for the advancement of our Agriculture. Laws Controlling the Station. 17 ESTABLISHING THE STATION AND CONTROL-LING THE TRADE IN FERTILIZERS. The following extracts contain the sections pertaining to this subject now in force : Section 7 of "An Act to establish a Department of Agricul-ture, Immigration and Statistics, and for the Encouragement of Sheep Husbandry" viz: "The Board of Agriculture is en-trusted with the enforcement and supervision of the laws and regulations which are, or may be, enacted in this State for the sale of commercial fertilizers and seeds." "Sec. 8. That no manipulated guano, superphosphate, or other commercial fertilizer, shall be sold, or offered for sale in this State, until the manufacturer, or person importing the same, shall first obtain a license therefor from the Treas-urer of the State, for which they shall pay a privilege tax of five hundred dollars per annum for each separate brand or quality, (and he shall also pay a tax of fifty cents per ton for every ton sold.*) Any person, corporation or company, who shall violate the provisions of this act, or who shall sell, or offer for sale, any such fertilizer, contrary to the pro-visions above set forth, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be fined or imprisoned at the discretion of the court." " Sec, 9. And every bag, barrel, or other package of such fertilizer as above designated, offered for sale in this State, shall have thereon a plainly printed label or stamp,f which *This tax of 50 cents repealed by a Supplemental Act ratified March 7th, 1877. fSee page 22. 18 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. shall truly set forth the name, location and trade mark of the manufacturer, also the chemical composition of the con-tents of such package, and the real percentage of any of the following ingredients asserted to be present, to-wit: soluble and precipitated phosphoric acid, soluble potassa, ammonia, or its equivalent in nitrogen, together with the date of its analyzation, and that the privilege tax provided for in sec-tion eight has been paid ; and any such fertilizer as shall be ascertained by analysis not to contain the ingredients and percentage set forth as above provided, shall be liable to seizure and condemnation, and when condemned shall be sold by the Board of Agriculture for the exclusive use and benefit of the Department of Agriculture. Any mer-chant, trader, manufacturer, or agent, who shall sell, or offer for sale, any commercial fertilizer, without having such labels and stamps as hereinbefore provided attached thereto, shall be liable to a fine of ten dollars for each separate bag or barrel or package sold or offered for sale, to be sued for before any justice of the peace, and to be collected by the sheriff by distress or otherwise, one half, less the cost, to go to the party suing, and the remaining half to the Department, and if any such fertilizer shall be condemned, as herein provided, it shall be the duty of the Department to have an analysis made of the same, and cause printed tags or labels expressing the true chemical ingredients of the same to be put upon each bag or barrel or package, and shall fix the commercial value thereof at which it may be sold. And any person who shall sell, or offer for sale, any such fertili-zer, in violation of the provisions of this section, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor." "Sec. 10. The Department of Agriculture shall have power and authority at all times to have collected samples of any commercial fertilizers offered for sale in this State, and have the same analyzed ; and such samples shall be taken from at least ten per cent, of the lot from which they may be selected." L Awa Controlling the Station. 19 " Sec. 11. It shall be lawful for the Department of Agri-culture to require the officers, agents or managers of any railroad or steamboat company, transporting fertilizers in this State, to furnish monthly statements of the quantity of fertilizers, with the name of the consignor or consignee, de-livered on their respective lines, at any and all points within this State. And said Department is hereby empowered to compel said officers, agents or managers, to submit their books for examination, if found expedient so to do; and any such agents, officers or managers failing or refusing to com-ply shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor." "Sec. 12. The Department of Agriculture shall establish, in connection with the Chemical Laboratory of the Univer-sity at Chapel Hill,* an Agricultural Experiment and Fer-tilizer Control Station ; and (the Board of Trustees of the University, with the approval of) the Department of Agri-culture shall employ an analyst skilled in agricultural chemistry.f " It shall be the duty of said chemist to analyze such fertil-izers and products as may be required by the Department of Agriculture, and to aid so far as practicable in suppressing fraud in the sale of commercial fertilizers. " He shall also, under the direction of said Department, carry on experiments on the nutrition and growth of plants, with a view to ascertain what fertilizers are best suited to the various crops of this State ; and whether other crops may not be advantageously grown on its soils, and shall carry on such other investigations as the said Department may direct. "He shall make regular reports to the said Department of all analyses and experiments made, which shall be fur-nished, when deemed useful, to such newspapers as will pub-lish the same. * By act of Assembly, 18S1, the Board was instructed to remove the Station as soon as the new building was ready for it. This was done in August, 18S1. f Words " Department of Agriculture" and " Board of Trustees of the Uni-versity" interchanged by a later act. 20 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. " Said chemist shall be subject to the rules and regulations of the University Laboratory, and the other rules and regu-lations of the University, and his salary shall be paid out of the iunds of the Department of Agriculture." "Sec. 21. It is hereby made the duty of the said Depart-ment of Agriculture to receive from any manufacturer or dealer in fertilizers any specimen quantities, not less than a fourth of a ton, contributed by such party, and have the same sent to different sections of the State for actual experi-ment by practical farmers; and the person so experiment-ing shall be required to make a careful report of the results, which shall be registered in the office of said Department, and a certified copy of the same shall be transmitted to the contributor." " Sec. 22. That all money arising from the tax or licenses, from fines and forfeitures, fees for registration "and sale of lands, not herein otherwise provided for, shall be paid into the State Treasury and shall be kept on a separate account by the Treasurer, as a fund for the exclusive use and ben-efit of the Department of Agriculture ; and until such fund can be made available, as aforesaid, the Treasurer shall loan to said Department, out of any moneys not otherwise appropriated, upon the warrant of the Governor, the sum of five thousand dollars per annum, for two years from this date, which sum shall be refunded to the Treasury by the first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine." , " Sec. 23. This act shall be in force from and after its rati-fication," &c. Ratified in General Assembly 12th of March, 1877. Laws Controlling the Station. 21 An Act to amend an Act to Establish a Department of Agriculture, Immigration and Statistics, and for the Encouragement of Sheep Husbandry. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact : That the act to establish a Department of Agriculture, Immigration and Statistics, and for the Encouragement of Sheep Husbandry, be and the same is hereby amended by inserting the following clause between the word " condem-nation " and the word " and," in the fourteenth line of sec-tion nine, to-wit : as hereinafter prescribed. That the said act be and the same is hereby further amended by inserting at the end of the first sentence of said section, which concludes with the words "Department of Agriculture," the following clause, to-wit Section 1. The proceeding to condemn the same shall be by civil action in the Superior Court of the county where the fertilizer is on sale, and in the name of the Board of Agriculture, who shall not be required to give bond for the prosecution of said action. And at or before the eummons is issued, the said Board shall, by its agent, make affidavit before the clerk of said court of these facts 1st. That a license has been obtained for the sale of a fer-tilizer of a particular brand. 2nd. That samples of the same have been analyzed under authority of the Board, and found to correspond with the label attached to the same. 3rd. That the defendant in the summons has in his pos-session, and on sale, fertilizers of the name and brand, and bearing a label or stamp representing the analysis made. 4th. That the fertilizers on hand and on sale are spurious, and do not in fact contain the, ingredients or in the propor-tion represented by the stamp or label on them. Where-upon the clerk shall issue his order to the sheriff of the county to seize and hold all the fertilizers in possession of 22 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. the defendant, labeled or stamped as the affidavit described. And the sheriff shall seize and hold the fertilizers so seized until ordered to be surrendered by the judge in term time ; unless the defendant shall give bond with justified surety, in double the value of the fertilizers seized, to answer the judgment of the court, in which case he shall surrender the fertilizer to the defendant and file this bond in the office of the clerk of the superior court, and thereafter the action shall be prosecuted according to the course of the court. And if it shall be established in the trial that the fertilizers seized are deficient or inferior to the analysis represented on the stamp or brand, then the plaintiff in said action shall recover judgment on the defendant's bond for the value of the fertilizers seized. Sec. 2. That section eight of chapter two hundred and seventy-four, laws of one thousand eight hundred and seventy -six and one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven, be amended by striking out the word " and " between the words " fine and imprisonment " in the last line of said section, and insert the word " or," so that it shall read " fine or imprisonment ; " and by adding to the end of said sec-tion the following : " And all fertilizers so sold, or offered for sale, shall be subject to seizure and condemnation in the same manner as is provided in section one of this act for the seizure and condemnation of spurious fertilizers, subject, however, to the discretion of the Board of Agriculture to release the fertilizers so seized and condemned, upon the payment of the license tax, and all costs and expenses in-curred by the Department in such proceeding." Sec. 3. That section nine of said act be amended by in-serting after the word " stamp," in the third line of said section, the following clause : " A copy of which shalhfbe filed with the Commissioner of Agriculture at or before the shipment of such fertilizer into this State, and which shall be uniformly used, and shall not be changed during the year for which such license is issued ; " and by striking out in the Laws Controlling the Station. 23 third line of said section the word " which," and inserting the following words : "and the said label or stamp." Sec. 4. This act shall be in force from and after its ratifi-cation. In General Assembly read three times, and ratified this the 4th day of March. A, D. 1881. The Legislature of 1883 enacted the following additional clauses : 1. That whenever any manufacturer of fertilizers shall have paid the license tax of five hundred dollars, his or their goods shall not be liable to any further tax whether by city, town or count}^. 2. Any dealer in fertilizers who may have on hand a quan-tity not exceeding ten tons when the license for the year expires, shall not be prevented by the provisions of this or any other act from selling the same without further taxes. 24 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. THE FERTILIZER CONTROL. The Experiment Station was established chiefly to give protection to the farmers of North Carolina in the purchase of fertilizers. The analysis of fertilizers which constituted its earliest work has continued to be the most important portion, although it is no longer the largest part of its work. It was a wise provision of the law which gave the farmer this protection at the time it did. The fertilizer trade was just being established in the State and, while there were many excellent articles, there were many worthless ones which, through ignorance more than fraud, were offered the farmers of the State, who had no means whatever of selecting the good. This was remedied by the system of careful inspec-tion and analysis which the Legislature of 1877 gave the State and which is still in force. The condition of the trade in fertilizers has steadily improved, 3'ear by year, since that time. If this control had not been established, it is safe to say that not one-half the fertilizer now sold would find con-sumption with us. This system of Fertilizer Control is based upon two simple principles: first, the license of the manufacturer to sella brand or article of a guaranteed composition and grade; second, the inspection and analysis of all fertilizers, when licensed, to see that this guarantee is sustained. The first requirement involves a formal announcement and an exact statement by the manufacturer of what he proposes to sell. No particular grade or composition is named in the law, but the Commissioner of Agriculture is authorized to admit to competition in the trade of the State every description or grade of article which can be reasonably supposed to meet the wants of any crop or farm. From the nature of a fertilizer its purchaser cannot judge of its character or richness, as the purchaser of sugar or salt can of the quality of those articles. The farmer must call The Fertilizer Control. 25 in the help of the Chemist to dissect the sample, weigh its valuable ingredients and estimate its worth. It is just this that the State has provided shall be done once for all of its agriculturists through the Experiment Station. REGULATIONS OF THE FERTILIZER CONTROL. The following ruling of the Board of Agriculture further defines the classes of articles which are taxable " At a meeting of the Board of Agriculture, October 15th, 1879, it M'as re-solved that the following articles shall be admitted free of tax, with such addi-tions or changes as may afterwards be made by the Executive Committee, upon consultation with the chemist, viz: Ground Bone, Bone Ash, Ground Bone Black, Ground Phosphate Rock, or other mineral Phosphate, Nitrogenous or-ganic matter commercially free from Phosphoric Acid and Potash, Nitrate of Soda, Nitrate of Potash (Saltpetre), Sulphate of Ammonia, Muriate of Ammo-nia, Kainite, Sulphate of Magnesia, Sulphate of Potash, Sulphate of Soda, Muriate of Potash, Lime, Plaster, Ground Cracklings, Ground Tankage, Salt and Oil of Vitriol." Upon the following articles the license tax will be exacted : " Any of the above articles, or others, sold for fertilizing material under any trade-mark or proprietary brand ; upon Dissolved Bone, Dissolved Bone Black, Dissolved Mineral Phosphates—(all Acid Phosphates or Superphosphates)—and upon any two or more of the articles mentioned in the first list, if combined either chemically or mechanically." To make plain the requirements of the law in the matter and to secure uniformity, the following scheme is recom-mended for the brand : (Weight of bag). „ __ (Name of Brand) _ (Trade mark) _. (Manufacturer's Address). _ _ _ Analysis (date) Available Phosphoric Acid _ _ pr. ct. Nitrogen (or Ammonia, if claimed) ._ " " Potash, (if claimed) " " North Carolina privilege tax paid. 26 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. The phosphoric acid should not be expressed as bone phosphate alone. By available phosphoric acid is meant both the soluble and the so-called " reverted." In the deter-mination of the reverted, what is known to Chemists as the " Washington method," or citrate of ammonia method, was used. Total nitrogen will be determined and credit given for all available forms. Owing to the difficulty in discrim-inating between the different sources whence nitrogen is obtained in compound superphosphates, it is not attempted to give a different valuation to each different nitrogenous material in these articles. But leather scrap, horn scrap, wool-waste and similar materials are considered as fraudu-lently present in such goods, unless special mention is made thereof. Special steps will always be taken to detect their presence, and when found in any sufficient amount to affect the value of the goods, mention will be made of the fact. Nitrogen may be expressed as such, or as ammonia. The potash referred to is that soluble in water. It should be expressed simply as potash (K 8 0). The percentages may be given within reasonable limits. These limits should not be greater than two per cent, on the available phos-phoric acid, J- per cent, on the nitrogen, and J per cent, on the potash. Samples of fertilizers are drawn under the supervision and immediate direction of the Commissioner of Agricul-ture. Great care is taken to get the fairest possible sample of the brand offered for sale. Every possible precaution, fairly within, the powers of an inspector, is taken to attain this end. The analyses of official samples only are pub-lished. The Chemist of the Agricultural Experiment Station re-ceives the sample with a number only. He does not know the name of the brand until his report of analysis is put on file in the Commissioner's office. When this has been done, the actual returns of the analysis are compared with the composition guaranteed or branded on the bag. The man- The Fertilizer Control. 27 ufacturer and the dealer or agent selling the same then re-ceive a copy of the analysis. If the article is shown by the analysis to be deficient at any point, the manufacturer or agent has an opportunity to correct the mistake. The mat-ter having been fully decided, the analysis is published in the papers of the State. In all cases where the law is not satisfied promptly, its penalties are exacted. The Fertilizer Control, as organized in the State, has sup-plied just what is needed for the protection of the farmer in the intelligent use of fertilizers, without giving rise to any artificial or unnecessary restrictions on trade. It is believed that the law of this State is superior to every other fertilizer law in these respects. It creates no artificial or arbitrary limits to the composition of fertilizers. It insures perfectly good faith between manufacturer, agent and consumer. It is simple and requires a minimum of machinery, expendi-ture and of espionage, a thing distinctively disagreeable to all American citizens. Its history will show that its execu-tion involves the fewest difficulties or embarrassments for all concerned. Fertilizers During 1884. Under this Control the trade in fertilizers has continued in a healthy state during the past two years. The following table shows the number and description of fertilizers licensed to be sold in North Carolina during the years 1882, '83 and '84 : 1882. 1883. 1884. " Acid Phosphates," or simple superphosphates _ io n 7 Superphosphates with potash.. 15 15' 10 Ammoniated Superphosphates 55 67 59 Natural Guano. 3 2 3 Agricultural Limes 121 Specialties _ 2 1 86 92 80 28 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. The progress of the trade may be briefly stated, as fol-lows : Forty-two brands of fertilizers were sold in 1879, forty-eight in 1880, fifty-nine in 1881, eighty-six in 1882 ninety-two in 1883, and eighty in 1884. Sixty thousand tons were sold in 1879, the year after the establishment of the Station, eighty thousand in 1880, eighty-five thousand in 1881, ninety-two thousand in 1882, ninety-five thousand in 1883, and probably as much in 1884. During the same time the price of fertilizers has been as follows: In 1879 phosphoric acid was estimated to cost in North Carolina, on the average, for soluble, 12J cents ; for reverted, or precipi-tated, 9 cents per pound. Ammonia cost 22 cents, and pot-ash 8 cents per pound. In 1880 the same prices ruled. In 1881 available phosphoric acid was worth 12J cents, while ammonia went up a little and cost 18.9 cents, on the aver-age, per pound, potash remaining the same. In 1882, owing to the introduction of a large quantity of the German potash salt, the price of potash in manipulated goods went down to 6 cents, while ammonia went up to 25 cents, and available phosphoric acid remained at 12J cents per pound. In 1883 the activity in the South Carolina phosphates reduced the cost of available phosphoric acid to our farmers to 10 cents, while ammonia cost them only 22J, potash remaining still at 6 cents per pound. In 1884 available phosphoric acid declined still further to 9 cents, ammonia to 20 cents, and potash remaining still the same, viz : 6 cents per pound. During the same time the average composition of ainmoni-ated superphosphates with potash, that is, the so-called com-plete fertilizer, was as follows for each year: AMMONIATED SUPERPHOSPHATE, WITH POTASH. I! Available Phosphoric Acid 7.40 Ammonia 2. 70 Potash _ , _ 1.30 AVERAGE IN 1882. 1883. 1884. 8.9I 8.59 8.15 2.6o 2.33 2.67 1.82 2.18 2.13 The Fertilizer Control. 29 Using uniform figures for valuation (9 cents for available phosphoric acid, 20 cents for ammonia, and 6 cents for pot-ash), the relative commercial value of the average ammo-niated superphosphate with potash, as above, is as follows : In 1880,$25.68; in 1882, $28.62 ; in 1883, $27.40; and in 1884, $27.71. Analyses of Fertilizers for 1884. The figures used in estimating the relative values of am-moniated superphosphates and similar manures during 1884, were Available phosphoric acid, : _ 9 cents per lb. Ammonia, — -- -- -~ 20 Potash, 1- - - -- 6 " These relative valuations merely furnish a convenient method of summing up the results of the analysis and of comparing them. They are not designed to fix the price at which the article shall be sold. It is impossible to give any one set of figures which shall represent the commercial value of these ingredients over our extended territory and through-out the entire year. As regards the consumption of the different classes of fertilizers, an inspection of the returns as far as complete shows that the ammoniated superphosphates with potash, or artificial guanos, still predominate largely over all other kinds. The consumption of acid phosphate has increased somewhat, that of Kainite largely, with the growth of the practice of composting or mixing manures on the farm. This is especially true of the cotton county. The better class of ammoniated superphosphates and Peruvian guano continue to be the manures preferred in the tobacco and wheat counties. The Station made 116 analyses of official samples of com-mercial fertilizers during 1884, and 33 additional (unpub-lished) analyses especially for private persons. This does not include the analyses of phosphates, agricultural chemi-cals or other ingredients of fertilizers. 30 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. The analyses in the following tables were all made on samples drawn according to law by the special agents of the Department of Agriculture from new lots of goods received in the State after the beginning of the new year. On the even pages will be found a list of fertilizers licensed to be sold in the State during the year, with the addresses of the manufacturers or general agents. On the page opposite the name is the analysis and relative valuation of the fertilizer. Very few cases of serious deviation from the standard adopted were discovered by the Station during the year. These were nearly all satisfactorily explained and adjusted, when they were looked into. The water given is that lost by continual heating at the temperature of boiling water. The insoluble phosphoric acid is that contained in phosphates which fail to dissolve in neutralfammonium citrate solution (sp. qr., LOO). (Wash-ington" method.) The soluble phosphoric acid is that free or in form of phosphates, (generally the one—lime phos-phate or acid phosphate of lime), soluble in pure cold water. The " reverted " is that insoluble in water, but dissolving neutral in standard ammonium citrate solution. This is all that the term reverted signifies here, and it is used simply to stand for^the phrase, " insoluble in pure water, but soluble in standard ammonium citrate solution under the standard conditions." It is generally agreed that it is within the power of plants to take up directly the phosphates so dis-solving, or in other words, that these phosphates are " available." > The "total available phosphoric " is simply the sum of the soluble and " reverted." The nitrogen is given as such, and calculated to its equivalent, ammonia. The potash is given as simple, uncombined potash (K 3 0). The number of the analysis on the Station books is given in the first column at the left, and the place where this par-ticular sample was drawn, in the column at the right of the first page. 32 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. o c .2 -4— > 2442 2761 2614 2506 2684 2511 2520 2529 2449 2451 2523 2610 NAM E. ADDRESS OF MANUFACTURER OR GENERAL AGENT. Acid Phosphate. Acme Fertilizer, Ammoniated Dissolv'd Bone Ammoniated Guano, L.&R. Ammoniated Phosphate for Fine Tobacco, Ammoniated Soluble Na-vassa Guano, Anchor Brand, Anchor Brand Tobacco Fer-tilizer, Ashepoo Acid Phosphate, . _ Baker's Dissolved Bone Phosphate, Baker's Prepared Chemicals Baker's Standard Guano, _. Baltimore Guano Co.'s Sol-uble Bone, Atlantic Phosphate Co., Char-leston, S. C, Acme Manufacturing Co., Wilmington, N. C, John Merryman & Co., 24 Second Street, Baltimore, Maryland, Lorentz & Rittler, 10 South St., Baltimore, Md., J. G. Miller & Co., Danville, Virginia, Navassa Guano Co., Wilming-ton, N. C, Southern Fertilizing Co., 1321 Cary St., Richmond, Va., Southern Fertilizer Co., 1321 Cary St., Richmond, Va. , Ashepoo Phosphate Co., Rob-ertson, Taylor & Co., Ag'ts, Charleston, S. C, Chemical Co. of Canton, 32 and 34 S. Charles St., Bal-timore, Md., Chemical Co. of Canton, 32 and 34 S. Charles St., Bal-timore, Md., Chemical Co. of Canton, 32 and 34 S. Charles St., Bal-timore, Md., Baltimore Guano Co., 32 and 34 S. Charles St., Baltimore, Maryland, SAMPLED AT Shelby, 1 Cronly, 2 Lumber- 3 ton, Wilson, 4 Reidsville, 5 Fremont, 6 Littleton, 7 Oxford, .. 8 Shelby, 9 Shelby, Franklin-ton, Monroe, 10 11 12 13 Analysp:s of Commercial Fertilizers. 33 16.06 10. 01 10.6S 16.59 13.68 15.48 14.86 o 3 Ph . HH P-l <j II I.40 2.6g .42 2. 11 4.62 4-03 o O n Q* • co Ch < 7.42 4.85 8. 01 £2 i Is 2.77 3-36 1. 12 ^ O 6.72 I.48 7.IO I. OI 4-54 3-48 a, o "32 ^5 "E 4-54 2.18 10.19 8.21 9-*3 8.20 8. 11 S.02 6.72 o a <u H o o 1-39 2.27 1.66 2.18 2-37 1.61 1.69 2.76 2.01 2.65 2.88 o Ph I. OI 3.18 2.O3 5-14 1.26 > f> o 19-55 25-35 27.47 25.24 31-37 1-95 2.15 27.47 22.48 13-94 4^45 4.16 2.37 6.53 2.73 3-3i 1.85 27.21 13-33 4-31 9-30 2.05 "•35 0.S0 21.39 10 8.01 2.63 10.43 1.24 11.67 21.01 Ti 12 12.50 5-70 5-24 1.94 7.1! 1.99 2.42 1.22 24.07 14.69 2-33 11.04 i-95 12.99 23-38 84 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. o a .2 a CO NAME. ADDRESS OF MANUFACTURER OR GENERAL AGENT. SAMPLED AT 2002 2444 239O 2509 2525 2517 25IO 2512 Bone and Peruvian Guano, Bone and Potash Mixture, B. & P., "Bos" Ammoniated Super-phosphate, Bradley's Patent Superphos-phate of Lime, British Mixture, Calvert Guano, Chesapeake Guano, 2518 2439 2402 2503 2604 Cotton Brand, High Grade Acid Phosphate, Diamond State Superphos-phate, Dissolved Bone Phosphate of Lime, Pacific, Durham Bull Superphos-phate, Edisto Acid Phosphate, . Edisto Ammoniated Fertili-zer, Empire Guano, Etiwan Acid Phosphate, Upshur Guano Co., Norfolk, Virginia, Southern Fertilizing Co., 1321 Gary St., Richmond, Va., •» Wm. Davison &Co:, Box 126, Baltimore, Md., Bradley Fertilizing Co., Lewis F. Detrick, Gen'l Ag't, 108 S. Charles. St., Baltimore, Maryland, E. B. Whitman, 104 S.Charles St., Baltimore, Md., P. Zell & Sons, 30 South St.", Baltimore, Md., Chesapeake Guano Co., 21 P. O. Avenue, Baltimore, Md., E. J. Powers, Wilmington, North Carolina, Lord & Polk, Odessa, Dela-ware, John S. Reese & Co., 10 South St., Baltimore, iv.d., Durham Fertilizer Co., Dur-ham, N. C, Edisto Phosphate Co., Charleston, S. C, Edisto Phosphate Co., Charleston, S. C, Rasin Fertilizer Co., 20 & 22 South St., Baltimore, Md., Wm. C. Bee & Co., General Agents, Charleston, S. C Fayette-ville, Shelby, Goklsboro, Wilson, 14 15 16 17 Franklin- 18 ton, Franklin- 19 ton, Wilson, 20 Fremont, 21 ?,?, Littleton, 23 Durham, 24 Durham, 25 Tarboro, 26 Lumberton 27 28 Analyses of Commercial Fertilizers. 85 *4 15 16 17 18 IQ 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Ib.OO 13-14 16.55 14. 68 12.73 14-45 ib.ofc .2 o- Ph < O.77 See pa 2.31 2-33 3-79 3.67 4.4^ 0.83 o ^ J "§ CO Ph < 8.25 ee 42 6.87 8.84 6.81 6.14 5-24 10. Oo o > o :2 X Ph < O.QO I.c5 3 1.25 I.46 2.6i i. 88 0-35 > C« < C T3 -*H CJ ci Ph < O <3J CJ i~* J=i >- 9-*5 8.42 10.09 8.27 // 7.12 10.43 o £ 2.61 2.01 2.l6 2.63 2.IC I.96 G O O cr1 c W < 3-17 2.44 2.62 19 2.01 2.38 ^ to >> §~ •n .ci o v o 53 - P^U o.£l 2.00$ 31-55 2.23 1.92 2.31 27-59 32.27 30.4^ 1. 10 27.53 25-79 1S.77 10.83 16.84 17.70 16.62 17.12 4.60 1. 11 1.96 2.44 3-30 26 3.00 4.90 2.14 10.54 0,81 12.20 7-57 5-35 i-3< 1.85 7.04 II. 3< 8.S7 7.20 2.01 2.44 i-57 2-45 I.QI 2-97 2.01 2.08 I.64 22.07 24.84 20.51 26. IO 26.81 ^Insoluble phosphate is chiefly in form of bene. 36 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. o an 2370 2441 2516 2409 2394 2609 NAME. Etiwan Dissolved Bone, Etiwan Guano, Eureka Amrnoniated Bone Superphosphate, Excellenza Soluble Phos-phate, Farmer's Friend, Fish Hawk Guano, ADDRESS OF MANUFACTURER OR GENERAL AGENT. 2528 2412 2601 24IO 2508 2597 Game Guano, Giant Guano, Gibbs & Co.'s High Grade Ammoniated Phosphate, Good Luck Guano, Home Fertilizer, Slingluff's Pure Dissolved Bone, IXL Ammoniated Bone Su-perphosphate, Lazaretto Chemical Fertil-izer Works' Acid Phos-phate, Lister's Ammoniated Dis-solved Bone Phosphate, Long's Prepared Chemicals, . National Tobacco Fertilizer, Wm. C. Bee & Co., General Agents, Charleston, S. C, Wm. C. Bee & Co., General Agents, Charleston, S. C, Atlantic & Virginia Fertilizing Co., Richmond, Va., Long & Dugdale, 37 S. Gay St., Baltimore, Md., Read & Co., B0X3121, N. Y., Freeman, Mason, Lloyd & Dryden, Norfolk, Va., Baltimore Guano Co., 32 & 34 S. Charles St., Baltimore, Maryland, Rasin Fertilizer Co., 20 & 23 South St., Baltimore, Md., E. J. Powers, Wilmington, North Carolina, The Geo. W. Miles Co., Mil-ford, Conn., Boykin & Carmer, 3 N. Lib-erty St., Baltimore, Md., The Geo. W. Miles Co., Mil-ford, Conn., Lazaretto Chemical & Fertil-izer Works, G. W. Grafflin, Prop'r, Baltimore, Md., SAMPLED AT Laurinburg Concord, Franklin-ton, Raleigh, Raleigh, Monroe, Selma, Raleigh, Lister Bros., Newark, N. J., Long & Dugdale, 37 S. Gay St., Baltimore, Md., Travers, Snead & Co., Rich-mond, Va., Lumberton Raleigh, Wilson, Fayette-ville, 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 4*1 42 43 44 Analyses of Commercial Fertilizers. 37 V 4—t a 29 14-50 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 4i I 42 43 44 2 o s ex CO g • 14.40 12.94 12.99 17.55 15-55 18.15 21. 11 16.01 18.46 13.08 3-7i 16.14 2.19 3-52 2.97 6.40 2.2 o o o P-> C/} Ph < O.84 4-83 3-55 1.07 1-35 9-47 6.13 9.08 8.20 5-21 0.41 In ^ • > o rs 9-73 5-70 5-! 8.83 7.83 10 31 2.50 1. 91 1. 16 1.28 3.83 6.24 a o o TJ 11.97 8.04 10.24 9.48 9.04 6.65 O.76 1.48 I0.49 7.ii 1.22 1.68 2.83 i-39 7.08 10.51 10.66 11.70 o I.97 2.08 2.06 2.23 1. 12 S -2 1 o § 3 2.04 1.94 1.98 2.15 2-39 2-53 2.50 2.71 1.36 2.48 2-35 2.40 2.61 o 13. ,l O a a " O 2.49 2-39 3.21 I.84 I.46 2.14 2.6l 2-34 21.55 27.02 28.55 27.06 29.98 21.26 3I.OI 1.62 24.27 24.IO 21.49 32.76 23.87 38 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. o c .2 -4— I +-> CO NAME. 2687 2763 2685 2513 2522 2514 2524 2504 2532 26o8 2392 2695 2570 2526 26l6 Navassa Acid Phosphate, Navassa Cotton Fertilizer,.. New Era Champion Guano, _ Norfolk Fertilizer and Insec-ticide, Orchilla Guano, Owl Brand Guano, Owl Brand Tobacco Guano, Patapsco Soluble Ammonia-ted Guano, Peruvian Guano, Peruvian Guano, No.i, Lobos Peruvian Mixture, _ Piedmont Special Fertilizer,. Piedmont Guano for Tobac-co, Pine Island Ammoniated Phosphate, Planter's Favorite, ADDRESS OF MANUFACTURER OR GENERAL AGENT. Navassa Guano Co., Wilming-ton, N. C, Navassa Guano Co., Wilming-ton, N. C, Upshur Guano Co., Norfolk, Virginia, Styron, Whitehurst '& Co., Norfolk, Va., Travers, Snead & Co., Rich-mond, Virginia, Davie & Whittle, Petersburg, Virginia, Davie & Whittle, Petersburg," Virginia, Patapsco Guano Co., 14 S. Holliday St.,Baltimore,Md Hodgdon and Spencer Co., Norfolk, Virginia, Hurtado & Co., New Y©rk, N. Y., American Fertilizing Co., Norfolk, Va., Piedmont Guano and Manuf. Co., 383 Charles St., Balti-more, Md. Piedmont Guano and Manuf. Co., 383 Charles St., Balti-more, Md., Quinnipiac Fertilizer Co., New London, Conn., Long & Dugdale, 37 S. Gay St., Baltimore, Md., SAMPLED AT Iron Sta-tion, Salisbury, Newton, Henderson Tarboro, Franklin-ton, Washing-ton, Oxford, Laurel Hll, Raleigh, Wadesboro Reidsville, Selma, Laurinburg 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 Analyses of Commercial Fertilizers. 39 Insoluble Phosphoric Acid. Soluble Phosphoric Acid. Reverted Phosphoric Acid. Total Availa-ble Phospho-ric Acid. Nitrogen. Equivalent to Ammonia. Potash. Relative Com. Value per Ton, (2,000 lbs.) 45 I2.=;6 2.72 7.87 3-30 3-93 11. 17 1.23 $ 21.58 46 15-17 3-9 1 4-95 S.88 1.86 2.26 1. 51 26.84 47 21.01 3.10 0.72 6-43 7.15 1.97 2-39 1.85 24.65 48 See below, page 42 49 12.76 3.66 0.00 12.70 12.70 22.86 50 16. II i-57 6.72 i-75 8.47 i-93 2-35 1.99 27.03 51 15.48 1.97 6.96 2.89 9-85 2.72 3-30 1.50 32.73 52 13.86 4-03 7.05 1.70 8-75 2.16 2.63 1.94 28.60 53 18.92 3-03 3.98 10.59 14-57 7.27 8.83 4-50 66.95 54 14.04 3-75 0.78 8.28 9.06 4.86 5.90 2.10 42.43 55 15.29 2.89 404 2.28 6.32 1.82 2.21 2.31 22.99 56 13.57 4.28 5.83 3.08 8.91 1.83 2.22 1.69 26.95 57 15.02 3-71 4.96 2.56 7.52 2.21 2.68 3-3D 28.29 58 20.59 3-47 0.50 9.09 9-59 2.36 2.87 1.94 31.07 59 14.33 2.02 7.75 1.04 8.79 1-55 1.88 1.52 25-17 40 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. NAME. ADDRESS OF MANUFACTURER SAMPLED .2 •4-J CO OR GENERAL AGENT. AT 2393 Pocomoke Superphosphate, . _ Freeman, Mason, Lloyd & Dryden, Norfolk, Va., Raleigh, 60 2519 Prolific Cotton Grower, Goldsboro Oil Mills, Golds-boro, N. C, Tarboro, 61 2600 Premium Guano, Hymans & Dancy, Norfolk, Virginia, Lumberton 62 2406 Royster's High Grade Acid Phosphate, Royster & Strudwick, Nor-folk, Virginia, Morehead City, 63 2371 Sea Fowl Guano, _•_ Bradley Fertilizing Co., Lewis F. Detrick Gen'lAg't, 108 S. Charles St., Baltimore, Wilming-ton, 64 2438 Soluble Pacific Guano, John S. Reese & Co., 10 South St., Baltimore, Md., Shelby, 65 2531 Soluble Pacific Guano for Tobacco, John S. Reese & Co. , 10 South St., Baltimore, Md., Oxford, 66 2681 Soluble Sea Island Guano,-. Rasin Fertilizer Co., 20 & 22 South St., Baltimore, Md., Selma, 67 2676 Special Compound, G. Ober & Sons, 85 Exchange Place, Baltimore, Md., Selma, . 68 Star Brand Guano, _ Allison & Addison, Rich-mond, Va. , 69 2691 Star Brand Special Tobacco Manure, Allison & Addison, Rich-mond, Va., Henderson 70 2468 Stono Acid Phosphate, Stono Phosphate Co., Charles-ton, S. C, Raleigh, 7i 2440 Stono Soluble Guano, Stono Phosphate Co., Charles-ton, S. C, Concord, 72 2677 Walker's Ammoniated Cotton Phosphate, Joshua Walker, 13 German St., Baltimore, Md., Selma, 73 2599 Wando Acid Phosphate, Wando Phosphate Co., Charleston, S. C, Fayette-ville, 74 2678 VVando Fertilizer, Wando Phosphate Co., Charleston, S. C, Wilson, 75 2579 Whann's Raw Bone Super-phosphate, Plow Brand, Walton, Whanri & Co., Wil-mington, Delaware, Raleigh, 76 Analyses of Commercial Fertilizers. 41 u Insoluble Phosphoric Acid. Soluble Phosphoric Acid. Reverted Phosphoric Acid. Total Availa-ble Phospho-ric Acid. Nitrogen. — Equivalent to Ammonia. in O fit Relative Com. Value per Ton, (2,000 lbs.) 6c I9.O4 1.92 5-o8 3-41 8.49 1.98 2.40 3-48 • $ 29.06 61 12.64 1-53 5-59 2.63 8.22 2.46 2.99 2-55 29.82 62 18.38 4.82 5-67 1-43 7.10 2.03 2.46 I.04 23.87 63 17.22 3.02 10.59 8.52 1.52 12. 11 21.80 64 15-83 2.84 1. 16 8.6S 2.42 2.94 I.89 31-45 65 15-Sl 4-35 6.61 2-55 9.16 2.01 2.44 I. OI 27.46 66 I3-56 3-77 6.51 1.99 8.50 3-13 3-8o 2-33 33-30 67 17.55 4-30 5-io i-59 6.69 2.07 2.51 1. 8l 24.25 68 I7-50 2.64 8.66 0.71 937 2.64 3.20 1. 91 31.96 6q - 70 17.67 1.99 7.20 i-34 8-54 2.36 2.87 I.32 28.44 71 x 7-43 2 -34 7.06 3.16 10.22 2-33 1. 6l 21.19 72 16.00 3-5o 4-37 2.27 6.64 2.42 2.94 25.64 73 r6.66 4.03 5-5o 2. 6 7-56 2.07 2.51 I.69 25.68 74 14.74 4-3 2 8.56 1.47 10.03 1-54 1.56 19.90 75 12. 80 4.91 6.84 1.26 8.10 2. 11 2.56 26.69 76 12.23 2.99 6.15 2-73 8.88 2.64 3-20 2.27 31-51 42 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. o5 CO NAME. ADDRESS OF MANUFACTURER OR GENERAL AGENT. SAMPLED AT 26l3 2527 2686 2530 Wilcox, Gibbs & Co.'s Ma-nipulated Guano, Zell's Ammoniated Bone Su-perphosphate, Zell's Cotton Acid Phosphate, Zell's Tobacco Fertilizer,.. Wilcox, Gibbs & Co., Charleston, S. C, P. Zell & Sons, 30 South St.. Baltimore, Md., P. Zell & Sons, 30 South St., Baltimore, Md., P. Zell & Sons, 30 South St., Baltimore, Md., Laurinburg Selma, Gastonia, Oxford, 77 79 So The following licensed fertilizers cannot be classed with superphosphates : 2513. The Norfolk Fertilizer and Insecticide, manufactured by Styron, Whitehurst & Co., Norfolk, Va., sampled at Tarboro, February 20th, was found to contain Moisture at 2I2°F, 10.21 per cent. Vol. and organic matter, and combined water, 5.22 Insoluble matter, _ _ 4.04 Bone phosphate, 4-J3 Sulphate of potash, . . _ 2. 63 Chloride of sodium,. 4.68 Carbonate of me, 26.13 Lime, hydrate and oxide, 28.57 Magnesia, oxide of iron, alumina and loss, J4-39 100.00 , 2444. Flour of S. C. Bone and Potash mixture, manufactured by the South ern Fertilizer Co., Richmond, Va. , sampled at Shelby, Feb. 6th, contains : — per cent. per cent. Total phosphoric acid, 16.85. Equiv. to bone phosphate,—36.78 Phosphoric acid, soluble in ammonium citrate solution under standard con-ditions, 3.58 per cent. Potash, 4.36 per cent. Analyses of Commercial Fertilizers. 43 5 Insoluble Phosphoric Acid. Soluble Phosphoric Acid. Reverted Phosphoric Acid. Total Availa-ble Phospho-ric Acid. cv to c i- Equivalent to Ammonia. Potash, Relative Com. Value per Ton, (2,000 lbs.) 77 78 79 80 13.92 13.27 15.15 12.84 1. 01 3-52 2.42 2.37 4.91 6.38 8.49 8.04 3-07 2.23 2.04 1.84 7.98 8.61 IO-53 9.88 2.56 2.34 2.12 3-II 2.84 2-57 3-15 I.3I 1.68 3-50 $ 30.50 28.43 20.97 32.26 44 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. THE PHOSPHATE EXPLORATION. HISTORY. All writers upon North Carolina geology have referred to the coprolites found in the coal strata of Rockingham, Stokes, Chatham and Moore, and in the marl beds. Dr. Emmons says in his report, 1852, p. 6: "They do not exist in sufficient abundance, as I have seen, in either formation, (referring to the coal and marl) to warrant the expense of extracting them. Still, the facts are important, and should not be forgotten." The knowledge of the subject remained virtually in this condition from that time, 1852, to February, 1883, when the writer caused the beds of phosphate rock at Castle Haynes to be opened and showed that a phosphatic rock existed there in quantity. Dr. Emmons, in the same report, describes some of the coprolites he found in the various marl beds. Speaking of the marl on the S. bank of the Cape Fear, one-half mile below Elizabeth, he says, (p. 46): "Coprolites and teeth of fish are common. The latter are mixed in the bed with shells, more or less. Both teeth and coprolites lie at the bottom of the structure, intermixed with some bones and rounded pebbles of quartz. This layer at the bottom, in-termixed with pebbles and rolled coprolites, is an interesting feature of the bed. I have been in hopes that in this posi-tion in some favored place, coprolites, in sufficient quantity, might be discovered, to pay the expense of extracting them separately. They possess a composition superior to bones, and may be used for the same purpose as bones. " The following results of an analysis represent, in the main, their composition : — The Phosphate Explorations, 45 Silica, ., 9.68 Phosphate of lime, 71-59 Carbonate of lime, 11.28 Magnesia, . 50 Potash a trace. Organic matter and water, 4-4° 97-45 "The coprolites of this bed are all black or dark brown. They are quite hard, and may be easily mistaken for the dark pebbles of quartz, with which they are associated. They are generally broken and are rounded ; but some re-tain their original spiral forms. They are two and a half to three inches long and three-fourths of an inch in diam-eter." Of the marl in the banks of the Tar at Greenville, Dr. Emmons says, (p. 36) in the same report : " The color is a drab or light yellowish brown. They are frequently per-forated by a round hole; they have a close resemblance to the ordinary clay stones. Coprolites are associated with them, and I was inclined to regard them all as coprolites, but it proved that many of the flattened bodies are not coprolites. Analysis of one of them gave the following results : — Insoluble matter, ... _ .13 Phosphate of lime, I 4-5° Carbonate of lime, 10.50 Magnesia, __ trace 25-13 "The coprolites have always given potash when tests are applied. These substances in the Greenville beds are soft, and unlike coprolites which occur on the Cape Fear River. They are unlike them in color and form. Most of them are, in their flattened cakes, not much unlike a cracker in form, though in this respect, there is much diversity." 46 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. Dr. Kerr refers to these coprolites of the marl beds in two places. On page 193 of his vol. 1, 1875, Geology of North Carolina, he says, speaking of a specimen of marl from Dr. Roberts, near Mt. Olive, Wayne county, it " is a good rep-resentative of the marl beds of the immediate neighborhood at Jesse Flowers', Kornegay's, Benj. Carr's, &c. In this region the eocene marl has been commingled with a con-siderable per centage of the underlying green sand, and contains numerous shark's teeth, rounded fragments of bones and coprolites." On page 196, of the same report, the marl in the north bluff of Waccamaw lake, Columbus county, is described as follows : " The bed is within three feet of the surface. The upper portion of the bed, represented by 23, is full of de-composed shells and is very rich in lime; the lower portion (24) is clayey in appearance, and in fact, contains many black, smooth phosphatic (probably coprolitic) nodules. Such nodules are of frequent occurrence in the marls of both this and the preceding age—miocene and eocene ; they are of no more value agriculturally than so many flint peb-bles, unless ground and treated with acid." Drs. Emmons and Kerr regarded these occasional phos-phatic nodules of the marl beds as true coprolites or fossil dung, as we have seen, and Dr. Emmons' description and analysis of the Cape Fear coprolites leaves little doubt about their being of this origin. Their position, as well as their composition, show that they are entirely different from the phosphates of Sampson, Duplin and Onslow counties, found last year, and described farther on. The phosphates of Sampson and Duplin are irregular per-forated lumps, weighing mostly from 2 to 50 pounds, and lie in a continuous layer in a sand or sandy loam, generally distinct from the marl. They contain 20 to 40 per cent, of sand, 40 to 50 per cent, of phosphate of lime and small amounts of carbonate of lime, fluoride of lime and pro-toxide of iron and alumina. The Phosphate Explorations. 47 Of the existence of this phosphatic rock we remained in ignorance until the winter of 1883. On the 28th of Feb-ruary, Dr. Thomas D. Hogg, of Raleigh, brought the writer in person a specimen of rock from his farm at Castle Haynes, in New Hanover county. This was the conglomerate de-scribed below, in which phosphatic nodules, sharks' teeth, shells, &c, were bound together by a cement of carbonate of lime. A few days later, at Dr. Hogg's suggestion, Mr. George Z. French sent me a similar rock from his farm eight miles northeast of Castle Haynes. As no examination of these particular beds had ever been made the beds were at once visited and the immediate localities explored. Mr. Levi Moore and Col. A. M. Faison sent a little later the first samples of the Duplin-Sampson phosphate to the Station. A brief inspection of the localities led me to report to the Board of Agriculture that the subject was worthy of thorough exam-ination, and to ask for means with which to prosecute explo-rations in this region. The Board made a (small appropria-tion for this purpose at the April meeting, 1883. The results obtained were prom ptly published, and awakened a great deal of interest in this matter. People commenced hunting for phosphates everywhere, so that much that is known now is due in part, at least, to the efforts of private parties. A hasty reconnoissatice of the section of country between the Cape Fear and the Neuse was made during 1883, and ths results of it were published in the report of the Station for that year. The Board of Agriculture made an appropriation at the January meeting, 1884, which enabled us to keep a small party of explorers in the field during several months of 1884. The Board was fortunate in securing the services of Gen. W. Gaston Lewis to take charge of this party, and his narrative of the reconnoissance of this territory is given below. REPORTS OP THE ENGINEER. The first report gives the information gathered on a hasty 48 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. trip through the counties supposed to contain phosphate, which was undertaken preliminary to the starting of any special explorations. Raleigh, N. C, March 15th, 1884. Dr. Charles W. Dabney, Jr., State Chemist: Dear Sir:—Having received from you the appointment as Engineer of the Board of Agriculture for the purpose of making a reconnoissance of a portion of the Eastern section of North Carolina, in which it was thought phosphates, in considerable quantities and accessible, existed ; under your direction, I proceeded to Kinston, Lenoir county, on Feb-ruary 4th, 1884, and commenced the work on the following day. Five days were spent in the vicinity of Kinston in Lenoir and Jones counties. An abundance of marl was found of good quality and very accessible. It is found in solid mass in the bluffs of Neuse river and Stonington creek, and crops out in many places high up on the sides of the hills. Large quantities of lime rock and excellent marl were dis-covered on the lands of John C. Wooten, Jr., and vicinity, both in Lenoir and Jones counties. The bluff at Biddle's Landing, on the south bank of Neuse river, is a solid mass of marl, extending from the bottom of the river to within three feet of the summit of the bluff, a distance of about twenty-five feet. Deep water is found immediately against this bluff—which fact makes its shipment to almost any section of our State a matter of small expense. Phosphates were found in this section, but they are proba-bly too lean to be made profitable. The lime rock and marl will unquestionably prove a source of wealth to those who will intelligently develop them. I spent, next, one day in Onslow county, in the neighbor-hood of Richlands, on my way to Kenansville and Warsaw, Duplin county. Specimens of phosphates were found on Cohorn creek, and in other places in the vicinity of Rich- The Phosphate Explorations. 49 lands. On the land of David Sandlin and on the south side of Cohorn creek, high bluffs of lime rock, twenty or more feet high, rise perpendicularly to the tops of the hills. Bold streams issue from the bases of these bluffs, and lime-sinks, similar to those in Florida, appear in several places on his land. Hills of rich marl, which analyze over ninety per cent of carbonate of lime, line the south border of the lowlands of Cohorn creek. This marl is plowed up in cul-tivating the fields, and the only expense in utilizing it is in simply loading it in carts and wagons and hauling to the adjacent fields for use. The section of the country, visited in search of phosphates in Lenoir, Jones and Onslow, is well adapted to the purposes of Agriculture. The land is good and the material to make it better is close at hand, and easy to get out. From February 13th to March 16th inclusive, I consumed in explorations for phosphates in Duplin county, in the vicinity of Kenansville, Bowden's Station and Warsaw, on W. & W. R. R. In this section many and excellent speci-mens of phosphates were found. These phosphates are generally located in the beds and bottom lands of small streams making into larger streams, and from one to ten feet and more below the surface, in layers ranging, as near as could be ascertained by a hasty examination under difficulties, from five to fifteen and more inches. The larger and more accessible quantities of these phosphates were found on tributaries to Stuart's Creek, Bear Swamp, Six Runs, Goshen Swamp and in neighborhood of Kenansville. The neighborhood of Kenansville has not yet been as fully explored as the other places named above. While at Warsaw, in accordance with your instructions, ± had about fifty tons of the phosphate rock excavated on the land of J. W. Best, about one mile S. E. of Warsaw, the result of which was made known to you in the follow-ing report: 50 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. " Warsaw, N. C, March 13th, 1884. "Enclosed please find a statement of the cost of excavating fifty tons of phosphate rock on the farm of J. W. Best, near Warsaw. Also the cost of hauling, loading, &c. This is not a fair basis to calculate on for the future. " The weather was extremely bad, the laborers green, and the hauling picked up promiscuously. I had an overseer for ten hands. One overseer would be sufficient for twenty-five or thirty hands. With a well organized force, I think I could reduce the cost of getting out and hauling the rock one-third. You will also notice that the ditching was expen-sive. The extremely wet weather and high water necessi-tated the deepening of a canal and the digging of a ditch to rid us of the water accumulating in the pits. " Fifty tons : Cubic yards excavated, 681 ; fraction of an acre o.n. Cost of excavation, _ „• $110.05 Cost of hauling, 33. 75 Cost of loading on cars, ._ ... 2.75 Cost of ditching, 18.75 Total, ...$165.30 "I am satisfied that we could have dug and loaded fifty tons of this phosphate for $100 to $1 10 with the same agen-cies properly organized/' This place was selected only for the reason it was nearer the railroad station at Warsaw than any other at which the rock had been found, I am satisfied that this yield is not an average one, and that in many places this quantity will be more than doubled in the same area. Having become satisfied that the localities named in the vicinity of Warsaw contained valuable beds of phosphates, and the time allotted for this reconnoissance now be-coming short, it was thought best to make more extended trips to ascertain as nearly as possible the outside bounda-ries of this phosphate territory. With this view I left The Phosphate Exploration. 51 Warsaw on March the 17th, examined the vicinity of Mag-nolia, passed on to Duplin Roads, Harrell's Store, Sampson county, Taylor's Bridge, Clinton and Faison's. Two weeks were consumed on this tour. Phosphates were found about Magnolia, along the road in the direction of Duplin Road, along the road to Harrell's Store, and in very considerable quantities in the neighborhood of Harrell's Store, on ail the small streams tributary to Doctor's Creek. Mr. Fennell, who resides about one mile south of Harrell's Store, states that he found in his marl bed "elephant's tusks and the well preserved antlers of an elk of immense size." Phosphates were found in this marl bed and along the stream for a considerable distance. Numbers of shark's teeth and bones, both of fish and animals, were also found with these phosphates. Several specimens of phosphates were found between Bar-ren's Store and Clinton, along the road via Taylor's Bridge. Wherever search was made for phosphates in the vicinity of Clinton they were found, except to the west of that place. I visited Mr. Killett's marl bed six miles west of Clinton, which is said to be the most westerly bed of marl found east of the Cape Fear river. Mr. Killett stated that in dig-ging the marl he threw out numbers of phosphatic nodules, but I failed to find any at time of my visit. Between Clinton and Faison's the whole country was deluged with water at this time, and the streams were far out of their banks, which rendered a search along that road for phos-phates impracticable. But I am informed they exist in good quantities there. From Faison's to the west and northwest search was made as far as Hobbton, 14 miles N. W.; also along the tributaries on the south side of Goshen Swamp, and on north side of Bear Swamp. Many good specimens were found in these localities. At Mrs. Pass's, about half a mile west of Faison's, about six or eight tons of very large nodules had been exca-vated and used in ornamenting the front yard. Some of 52 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. these nodules will weigh between three end four hundred pounds. The specimen sent to the Museum from there weighed 253 pounds. I also found specimens of phosphates in a cut on the W. & W. R. R. about half mile from Faison's towards the north, and in direction of Goshen Swamp. Having received numerous messages requesting a search for phosphates in Bladen and Columbus counties, and with a view to discover the extreme outside limits of the phos-phate district in our State, by your direction, I made search on the following route: On the morning of April 3d, I left Magnolia and went via Taylor's Bridge, Clear Run, Carr's Store on Black River. White Hall on Cape Fear River, Council's on the Carolina Central R. R., Lake Waccamaw on the W. C. & A. R. R., to Whiteville, Columbus county. Returned by Lake Waccamaw, Black Rock on the Cape Fear River, Point Caswell on the Black River in Pender county, and Harrell's Store to Warsaw, arriving at that place April 12th. On this trip I found phosphates at and in the vicinity of Lake Waccamaw, in the vicinity of White-ville, at Black Rock, and at C. P. Moore's, about five miles N. E. of Point Caswell. This was a very hurried trip. In this section the marl beds have not been worked, nor have the streams been drained by ditches, as is the case in Duplin and Sampson, which facts rendered successful search, in the limited time at my disposal, impracticable. In Columbus county marl was found in abundance, and the same indica-tions of phosphate beds exist there as were noticed in Duplin and Sampson. This reconnoissance has shown that phosphates do exist in the counties of Lenoir, Onslow, Duplin, Sampson, Bladen, Columbus and Pender. They probably exist in less abun-dance in portions of Brunswick and New Hanover counties; possibly in portions of Wayne, Pitt, Greene, Edgecombe, Martin and Halifax in small quantities. A more extended and careful examination of the phosphate district ander more favorable circumstances will reveal the true location, The Phosphate Explorations. 53 quantity and quality of the phosphates as they exist, and determine without question which beds can be worked prof-itably, reference being had to distance from railroad and water transportation, depth of the deposit below the surface, character of soil overlaying the rock, thickness of layers, &c. The bad weather, extraordinary fall of rain, the want of interest heretofore taken in the discovery of phosphates in that section (principally from want of knowledge) have ren-dered the work in this exploration slow and difficult. Much more might have been accomplished under more favorable circumstances. From this rapid survey it is impossible to state the accu-rate limits of the phosphate territory, but the indications are that it commences from the south at the South Carolina line in Columbus county, in the vicinity of the point at which the Waccamaw River passes into South Carolina, taking a northeasterly direction through Columbus county, southeast portions of Bladen, southeast and eastern portions of Sampson, southwest portions and northern portions of Pender, almost all of Duplin, northern part of Onslow and northwest and southeast sections of Jones and Lenoir. It may and probably does cover a more extended area, but this must be determined by future and a full?,r exploration. This is submitted simply as a condensed statement of my operations during this preliminary reconnoissance. Respectfully, W. G. LEWIS. Raleigh, N. C, July 16th, 1884. Dr. Charles W. Dabney, Jr., State Chemist: Dear Sir:—I have the honor to submit the following brief report of my operations in the Phosphate Survey since the report made on March 15th, last. My instructions were to begin operations at some place which promised phosphate nearest the lines of transporta- 54 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. tion, and to explore each bed thoroughly, sinking pits at proper distances until its limits were found or a depth of ten feet was reached. The pits were to be measured, calculations made of the cubic feet of earth removed, and the rock taken out and weighed. When the limits of the bed or the depth of ten feet were reached, the area of the bed was to be deter-mined and the probable tonnage per acre calculated. The plots, opposite this page, and the list of beds ex-plored will sufficiently illustrate this simple method of procedure. The lithograph shows the outlines of one of the larger and two of the smaller beds, selected at random from our atlas of plots of beds. Having procured the services of Mr. Jesse W. Lane, of Duplin county, as an assistant, and to take immediate di-rection of the laborers, to weigh the rock and survey the areas, and having obtained tools, tents and .other camp equipage necessary for the work, I put the party to work on May the 6th, on the farm of Mr. J. W. Best, near the pits previously sunk. Up to date the party have examined thirty-four different beds, making totais of 89.33 acres explored, 493 pits dug, 46,877 cubic feet of earth moved, 54,009 pounds of rock ex-cavated. From this we calculated for the total 89.33 acres, 40,559.58 tons of phosphate, which is an average of 454.04 tons per acre. For each ton of rock it was necessary to ex-cavate 173.9 cubic feet of earth. I had employed on the work an average of seven laborers. In many places quick -sand was reached before the rock was found, which necessitated a great amount of extra labor to reach the rock, as the sides of the pits would cave in con-tinually. In many cases the pits, after having been ex-cavated several feet, were necessarily abandoned on this account before the rock was reached. The beds of accessible phosphate rock have very irregular boundaries, requiring much time to accurately survey and estimate their areas. This is a gently undulating 54 Annual Report N. 0. Experiment Station. tion, and to explore each bed thoroughly, sinking pits at proper distances until its limits were found or a depth of ten feet was reached. The pits were to be measured, calculations made of the cubic feet of earth removed, and the rock taken out and weighed. When the limits of the bed or the depth of ten feet were reached, the area of the bed was to be deter-mined and the probable tonnage per acre calculated. The plots, opposite this page, and the list of beds ex-plored will sufficiently illustrate this simple method of procedure. The lithograph shows the outlines of one of the larger and two of the smaller beds, selected at random from our atlas of plots of beds. Having procured the services of Mr. Jesse W. Lane, of Duplin county, as an assistant, and to take immediate di-rection of the laborers, to weigh the rock and survey the areas, and having obtained tools, tents and -other camp equipage necessary for the work, I put the party to work on May the 6th, on the farm of Mr. J. W. Best, near the pits previously sunk. Up to date the party have examined thirty-four different beds, making totals of 89.33 acres explored, 493 pits dug, 46,877 cubic feet of earth moved, 54,009 pounds of rock ex-cavated. From this we calculated for the total 89.33 acres, 40,559.58 tons of phosphate, which is an average of 454.04 tons per acre. For each ton of rock it was necessary to ex-cavate 173.9 cubic feet of earth. I had employed on the work an average of seven laborers. In many places quick -sand was reached before the rock was found, which necessitated a great amount of extra labor to reach the rock, as the sides of the pits would cave in con-tinually. In many cases the pits, after having been ex-cavated several feet, were necessarily abandoned on this account before the rock was reached. The beds of accessible phosphate rock have very irregular boundaries, requiring much time to accurately survey and estimate their areas. This is a gently undulating jVorth. Scale if chains /iruh. ilansom Middieton, /£ acres- J47J.00Tons. 1.S3acres* t64W Tons The Phosphate Ekploration. 55 country, sixty to one hundred and twenty feet above the sea level. The beds of phosphate, as far as observations go, are found at all depths, therefore, from the surface to twenty feet below, and as deep as has been dug. The surface soil is a very sandy loam, the subsoil a stiff, yellowish or reddish clay. The phosphate rock is found frequently immediately un-derneath a stratum of two to four feet of this cla}r , imbedded in a coarse sand. Underneath this is another stiff, fine grained, blueish clay again. On the farm of Mr. D. J. Middleton, 2J m, E. of Warsaw, for example, we see in the ditches in his lowlands, six inches to one foot of culti-vated soil, one and a half to two feet of the clay and then the phosphate rook. At other places the rock occurs underneath a marl. At Mr. Levi Moore's, for example, we find one foot of sand, two to three feet of clay, two to three feet of a shell marl and then the phosphate rock in a coarse sand, resting upon a stiff blue clay. The layer of phosphate rock is six to twenty inches thick. The rock is light grey to dark, greenish black in color. The lumps are rounded and more or less perforated, though less so than is the South Carolina rock. They vary in size from one's fist to great slabs or cakes weighing a half ton. The beds are in what are usually termed pockets. They are found on small streams, usually a few hundred feet down the stream from the marl beds. They lie in the ^bot-toms and extend into the adjacent elevations. The pits were dug across the bottoms and up the inclines to the depth of accessibility which was established at ten feet below the surface. The area of the country occupied by the beds developed will cover a space of about seven miles square, lying along the line of the Wilmington and Weldon Rail Road, on either side and in the vicinity of Warsaw, Bowden's Station and Faison's. The fifty-five mile post which stands in the centre of the village of Warsaw was used as the base point of all the sur- 56 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. veys. These surveys are all connected, and show accurately the location of the phosphate beds. Respectfully, W. G. LEWIS, Engineer. Raleigh, N. C, October 15th, 1884. Dr. Charles W. Dabney, Jr., State Chemist; Dear Sir:—Since my report of July 16th, 1884, on the operations of the phosphate survey, I have the honor to report that we have explored, in the manner described in my former report, 38 additional beds, aggregating 35.65 acres, 297 pits, 22,842 cubic feet of earth removed, 21,486 pounds of rock, aggregating 10,304.9 tons of phosphate rock for the whole area. From July 16th to date, I had on an average two labor-ers, paid by the Board, and five furnished me by" the persons on whose land we were working. The work done since July 16th, has not yielded so large an amount of phosphate to the acre as that reported to you on that date. The following are the grand totals for our whole explo-ration of these phosphate beds : Total number of acres explored, 124.98 Total number of pits dug, 790. Total cubic feet earth excavated, .. 69, 719. Total pounds rock excavated, 75,495. Total calculated number tons phosphate rock in these 124.98 acres, _ 50,864.48 Average tons per acre, 406.98 The quantity of rock developed by this work, the fact of its existence in many adjacent places and its proxim-ity to railroad transportation, indicates that it may be worked with profit both to the miner and the owners of the beds. I feel sure that future working of the beds already found and located, will develop the rock in much larger quanti- The Phosphate Explorations. 57 ties than could be or have been discovered by the limited exploration made by me under your direction. The fact of the existence of phosphate rock in this section in, at least, considerable quantities, has been established. It remains with land owners or private parties to develop the oeds further and work the phosphates found for their gain and the general benefit of the section. But. if the exploration failed, in any part, of its result in phosphates, the marl beds, which were developed in a sec-tion where marl was very little known before, will fully reward the State for the work done. This marl is very ac-cessible and in large quantities, and no doubt will be used to great advantage by farmers in that section. Heretofore they have been ignorant of its existence. Marl and lime-rock is found in vast quantities, of rich character and very accessible, at many places in Lenoir, Jones, Onslow, Duplin, Pender, Sampson, Bladen, Columbus and New Hanover. I only mention the counties covered by my phosphate reconnoissance. I found lime-rock cropping out in headings of more or less area at the following points : On Trent river above Trenton ; J. C. Wooten's, Lenoir ; in Onslow county on both banks of Cohorn creek ; on the lands of Lafayette Franks and David Sandlin ; at Chapel Run, overlaid with phos-phates; at Tar Landing and at Jacksonville. It underlies the town of Jacksonville, in depths varying from the sur-face to eight feet. Limestone occurs again in Duplin county, at Hallsville and Chinquepin; at Croom's Bridge and Lane's Ferry in Pendercounty. At the last'four mentioned points it is on the banks of the North East river. On Holly Shelter creek, near the Shelter Road in Pender county and at Rocky Point, Pender county. There is limestone again in Bladen county, on Ham-mond's creek and at Black Rock on the Cape Fear. In Columbus county, on the north bank of Lake Waccamaw, 58 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. marl is found in large quantities. Phosphates are found in the marl at this point. In New Hauover county, at Castle Haynes. This is simply a statement of what I myself saw. I heard of it in many more places in the region covered by the points mentioned above. Two of the points named above are worthy of especial mention, viz : Lane's Ferry, better known as French Broth-ers' Excelsior Quarries, and Castle Haynes. After going over these quarries twice I requested of the Messrs. French Brothers answers to a few questions. Ques-tions and answers I give below. They are now quarrying limestone which is used in the jetties in the Cape Fear River, below Wilmington : 1st Question. Maximum depth obtained in limestone ? Answer. Twelve feet, (12 ft.) but bottom not reached yet. 2nd Question. Does it underlie that entire section ? Answer. We think it does in varying depth and varying quality. 3rd Question. What is average depth below the surface so far as worked ? Answer. Three to four feet to top of rock—" crops out " by " heads " in many places. 4th Question. Thickness of stratum of phosphatic lime rock? Answer. From 2 inches to 2 feet. 5th Question. How far does the phosphatic lime rock (or conglomerate) extend? Answer. Not yet sufficiently explored ; probably in pock-ets varying in quality and quantity, and its area from four to five acres. It will pay to convert it into a fertilizer. The French Brothers experimented fully and carefully with many different kinds of fertilizers on their crops of cotton. They write, " we cannot give you a detailed state-ment of the result of our cotton experiments, but the acid phosphate made from the Duplin rock, and our phosphate The Phosphate Exploration. 59 of lime, especially when both were used with kainit, paid better thon the highest priced ' arainoniated ' fertilizers." I visited Castle Haynes in company with its proprietor, Dr. Thomas D. Hogg, of Raleigh, and examined the quarry now being opened and the results of the experiments made this year. There is a stratum of seven inches of lime rock near the surface and the conglomerate of phosphatic nodules aver-ages a depth of four and one-half feet below the surface. The stratum of conglomerate averages about two and one half feet thick and yields about 10,000 tons to the acre. Dr. Hogg thinks it underlies a large part of that section, making off from Castle Haynes in a northeasternly and a south west-ernly direction. The use of the fertilizer which he made, without acid or skilled labor, shows about 300 per cent, increase in corn and a greater increase in oats over the land without the phos-phate. The increase in yield of oats was so great that it could not easily be estimated. It was used on poor sandy land. I would have more extensively examined the section of country between Castle Haynes and Lane's Ferry, and also in vicinity of Rocky Point, but for lack of time. I think a thorough exploration of that section should be made at as early a day as possible. Thanks are due from us to Mr. Jesse W. Lane for the energy and zeal displayed in the prosecution of his part of the work. Respectfully submitted, W. G. LEWIS, Engineer of the Board of Agriculture. 60 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. A LIST OF THE PHOSPHATE BEDS EXPLORED DURING 1884, WITH THE NUMBER OF PITS DUG, AMOUNTS OF EARTH EXCAVATED, AND OF PHOSPHATES OBTAINED, AND ANALY-SES OF THE SAME. 1. On the land of J. W. Best, one mile S. E. of Warsaw, 3.63 acres, 402. 1 tons phosphate per acre=:total 1459.62 tons rock. 16 pits dug, 1,600 cubic feet of earth and 2,234 1 DS - of phosphate rock excavated. Sample No. 12. Analysis 2400. Moisture 1.08 per cent. Sample dried at 212° F. contains — Sand 1-2.96 per cent. * Phosphate of lime 42.46 " Carbonate of lime 4.18 Equivalent to phosphoric acid, 19.45 per cent. 2. On the land of D. I. Woodard, one mile S. E. of Warsaw, 1.55 acres, 235.12 tons per acre=total 464.44 tons phosphate. 12 pits. Excavated 1,560 cubic feet earth and 475 lbs. phosphate rock. Sample No. 122 from hillside, on Warsaw-Kenansville road. Sample No. 123, Stewart's creek bottom. An. 2809 An. 2S10 No. 122. No. 123. Moisture . 0.66 per cent. 0.39 per cent. Sand and insoluble matter.. 30.44 " 36.59 " Carbonate of lime 6.30 " 6.30 " . Phosphate of lime 53-03 " 45-78 " * Equivalent to phosphoric acid 24.29 20.97 3. On land of L. Aaron, one mile S. E. Warsaw. 3 pits, 240 cubic feet earth and 100 lbs. phosphate. Thin deposit. 4. On land of Ransom Middleton, 2 miles E. Warsaw. 12 acres, 456.5 tons per acre=total 5,478 tons of phosphate. 65 pits, 5,850 cubic feet of earth and 10,050 lbs. phosphate excavated. Analysis 2543. 23 A. Grove Branch. 23 B. Fish Pond. Moisture 1.57 per cent. 0.92 per cent. Samples dried at 212 F. contain, Sand and insoluble matter 3S.09 per cent. 28.92 per cent. Carbonate of lime.. 3.81 " 2.43 Phosphate of lime 45.16 " 57.18 Equivalent to phosphoric acid 20.10 26.19 A third analysis gave 46.06 per cent, bone phosphate. 5. On land of George Middleton, 2 miles E. of Warsaw. 2.03 acres, 292.75 tons per acre=:595 tons of phosphate. 21 pits, 2,520 cubic feet earth and 2,005 lbs. phosphate dug. The Phosphate Explorations. 61 2542. 2337. Moisture.. 1.73 per cent. 1.79 per cent. Sample dried at 212 F. contains, Sand and insoluble matter 59.47 per cent. 51.17 per cent. Carbonate of lime 3.12 5.91 *Phosphate of lime 28.19 " 37- 2 8 *Equivalent to phosphoric acid 12.91 " 17-07 6. On land of D. J. Middleton, 3 miles E. of Warsaw. Bed No. 1.—5.32 acres, 546.89 tons per acre=total 2909.45 tons phosphate. Pits 32, 2,560 cubic feet earth and 6,855 lbs. phosphate excavated. Bed No. 2.—0.66 acres, 200 tons per acre=lotal 132 tons of rock. 4 pits, 400 cubic feet earth and 590 lbs. of rock. Analyses Nos 2334. 2335. Sand and insoluble matter 45.62 per cent. 44-73 Per cent. Carbonate of lime 4-59 2.30 " ^Phosphate of lime 39-86 " 39-33 " *Equivalent to phosphoric acid 18.26 18.01 " 7. On land of John A. Boyette, 4 miles S. E. of Warsaw. 0.34 acres, 551 tons per acre=total 187.33 tons of rock. 4 pits, 400 cubic feet of earth and 2,175 lbs. of rock excavated. 8. On land of Leonidas Middleton, 5 miles S. E. of Warsaw. 2.68 acres, 394.6 tons per acre= total 1057.52 tons of rock. 25 pits, 1600 cubic feet of earth and 3180 lbs. of rock excavated. Sample No. 27. Analysis No. 2547. Moisture.. _ 1.06 per cent. Sample dried at 212 F. contains, Sand. ..29.46 per cent. *Phosphate of lime 54.89 " Carbonate of lime _ 3.90 " *Equivalent to phosphoric acid 25.15 " 9. On land of Levi Moore, 4^ miles S. E. of Warsaw., 1 acre, about 11^ feet below the surface and below marl, mere trace of phosphate. 6 pits, 1050 cubic feet of earth excavated. Sample No. 29, Analysis 2549. Moisture 0.63 per cent. Sample dried at 212° F. contains, Sand.. _ 37.36 per cent. Carbonate of lime . 4.96 " *Phosphate of lime 44-51 " -^Equivalent to phosphoric acid 20.39 " 10. On land of Halsey Bowden, 5^ miles S. E. Warsaw. Small amount of rock. 4 pits, 256 cubic feet earth excavated. ir. On land of Ed. Hill, 2 miles E. Warsaw. Small amount of rock under 4 feet of marl. 2 pits, 224 cubic feet earth excavated. 62 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. 12. On land of T. H. Kinneair, 2 miles S. E. Warsaw. No rock. 4 pits, 172 cubic feet excavated. 13. On land of Stokes, 1^ miles S. E. Warsaw. No rock. 4 pits, 250 cubic feet earth excavated. 14. On land of W. H. Window's, 3 miles S. E. Warsaw, 2.78 acres, 218 tons per acre=total 599 tons of rock. 5 pits, 500 cubic feet earth and 556 pounds of rock excavated. Analysis 2563—Sand 42.06, Carbonate 3.65, Bone Phosphate 45.16 per cent. 15. On land of Mrs. Rufus Bowden, \ l/2 miles W. Warsaw. Bed I—3. 06 acres, 196 tons per acre=total 600 tons of phosphate. 22 pits, 3080 cubic feet earth and 1280 pounds of rock excavated. Bed 2—5.13 acres, 452 tons per acre=total 2318.76 tons of phosphate. 15 pits, 2880 cubic feet earth and 1780 pounds of phosphate excavated. <\n lysis 2492—Sand 60.58, Carbonate, 3.43, Phosphate, 28.88 per cent. 16. On land of Thos. V. Turrence, 4^ miles S. W. Warsaw. Large quantities near suiface. Bed 1—4.06 acres=total 606.47 tons per acre, 2472.16 tons of rocks. 18 pits, 2025 cubic feet earth and 3110 pounds of rock excavated. Bed 2—410 acres, 308.38 tons per acre=:total 1264.35 tons of rock. 15 pits, 1200 cubic feet earth and 15 15 lbs rock excavated. Analysis 2633—Sand 62,91, Carbonate 4.18, Bone Phosphate 25.41 per cent. 17. On land of J. R. West, 4^ miles S. W. Warsaw. 2.50 acres, 204.18 tons per acre= total 510.45 tons of rock. 16 pits, 1600 cubic feet of earth and 350 lbs. rock excavated. 18. On land of E. A. Merritt, 4^ miles S. W. Warsaw. 0.50 acres, 200 tons per acre=total 100 tons of rock. 3 pits, 240 cubic feet of earth and 150 lbs. rock excavated. Analysis 2632—Sample from ditch between the farms of West and Merritt. Sand 47.26, Carbonate 5.09, Bone Phosphate 35.67 per cent. 19. On land of John Taylor, 4^ miles S. W. Warsaw. 5 pits, 500 cubic feet of earth excavated. No rock. Good shell marl here. 20. On land of Co>. W. A. Faison, 4^ miles S. W. Warsaw. 3 pits, 135 cubic feet of earth excavated. No rock. 21. On land of John Frederick, 5 miles S. W. Warsaw. 1. 50 acres, 200 tons per acre= total 300 tons of rock. 9 pits, 405 cubic feet of earth and 300 lbs. rock excavated. 22. On land of Col. A. M. Faison, 2% miles W. Warsaw. Bed 1—5.54acres» 215.88 tons per acre=total 1195.97 tons of rock. 13 pits, 1300 cubic feet of earth and 2032 lbs. of rock excavated. Bed 2—1.76 acres, 149.91 tons per acre =total 263.84 tons of rock. 13 pits, 1040 cubic feet of earth and 530 lbs. rock excavated. Bed 3—7.70 acres, 144. 50 tons per acre= total 11 12.65 tons of rock. 31 pits, 3410 cubic feet earth and 1745 lbs. rock excavated. Bed 4—.96 acres. 647.95 tons per acre=total 622.03 tons °f rock. 7 pits, 560 cubic feet earth and 714 lbs. rock excavated. Analysis 2556—Sand 39.60, Carbonate 3.01, Bone Phosphate 46.56 per cent. The Phosphate Exploration. 63 23. On land of Wm. Boyette, 2 miles W. Warsaw. 2.63 acres, 203.13 tons per acre=total 534.23 tons of rock. 9 pits, 900 cubic feet of earth and 1371 lbs. of phosphate rock excavated. Small deposit in another branch near by. Analysis 2815—Sand 54.75, carbonate 3 30, bone phosphate 32.55 per cent. 24. On land of John Blanchard, 3 miles W. Warsaw. 1.34 acres, 327.84 tons per acre=total 439.30 tons of rock. 12 pits, 720 cubic feet of earth and 858 lbs. rock excavated. Analysis 2561—Sand 40.12, carbonate 3.59, bone phosphate 45.05 per cent. 25. On land of Abner Blanchard and J. K. Williams, 2> lA miles W. Warsaw. 2% feet deep, stratum phosphate 6 to 8 inches. 3 acres, 200 tons per acre= total 600 tons of rock. 15 pits, 1725 cubic feet of earth and 600 lbs. rock excavated. Analysis 2560—Sand 43.11, carbonate 4.54, bone phosphate 42.20 per cent. 26. On land of Arthur Weeks, ^ mile N. W. Bowden's, 4.24 acres, 698.57 tons per acre=total 2962 tons of rock. 19 pits, 1425 cubic feet of earth and 4715 lbs. rock excavated. Analysis 2489—Sand 39.71, Carbonate 4,48, Bone Phosphate 43.29 per cent. 27. On land of Benjamin Bowden, ^ miles N. W. Bowden's, 1.05 acres, 530.88 tons per acre= total 557.42 tons of rock. 7 pits 560 cubic feet of earth and 1225 lbs. of rock. A small deposit of rock in a branch near his house. 28. On land of Mrs. Elizabeth Becton, 1 mile S. E. Bowden's, 0.60 acres, 1063.37 tons per acre=total 638.02 tons of rock. 3 pits, 360 cubic feet of earth and 640 lbs. rock excavated. 29. On land of Daniel Bowden, part of same bed as above, 0.93 acres, 1063.37 tons per acre=total 988.93 tons of rock. 9 pits, 900 cubic feet of earth and 2680 lbs. rock. Below a bed of blue marl. Stratum 6 inches. Analysis 2488—Sand 50.02. Carbonate 4.72, Bone Phosphate 33.32 per cent. 30. On land of Daniel Bowden % miles S. E. Bowden's, 1.10 acres, 476.63 tons per acre=total 524.07 tons of rock. 4 pits, 320 cubic feet of earth, and 1750 lbs. rock. 31. Dr. J. W. Blount, 1% miles E. Bowden's. 4 pits, 300 cubic feet of earth, very little rock. 32. On land of Alonzo Rich, 3 miles S. Faison's, 0.67 acres, 304.92 tons per acre=total 204.30 tons of rock. 7 pits, 630 cubic feet of earth and 430 lbs. rock. Analysis 2742—Sand 34.60, Carbonate 5.71, Bone Phosphate 46.19 per cent. 33. On land of Capt. L. T. Hicks, 4 miles S. W. liaison's, 5.00 acres, 549.20 tons per acre=total 2746 tons of rock. 24 pits, 1920 cubic feet of earth, and 4675 lbs. rock excavated. 3 feet below surface in marl bed. Stratum 8 inches. Analysis 2743—Sand 35.76, Carbonate 5,11, Bone Phosphate 43.53 per cent. 34. Arthur Weeks and Benjamin Bowden's, second bed. Small deposit. 3 pits, 160 cubic feet of earth excavated. 35. Matthew Waters and Charles Reeves, 4 miles southwest of Faison's, 2.95 acres, 263.52 tons per acre=total 776.38 tons of rock. 18 pits, 1800 cubic feet of earth excavated, and 1585 lbs. rock. 36. Dr. Wm. J. Thompson, 3 miles southwest of Faison's. Three small de-posits. 16 pits, 1 152 cubic feet earth and 1400 lbs. of rock excavated. 64 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. 37. Ben Bowden, 3 miles southwest of Faison's. Small quantity of rock. 5 pits, 600 cubic feet earth and 600 lbs. of rock excavated. 38. I. R. Faison, ]/z mile west of Faison's. Six feet below surface. Stratum 12 inches. Bed No. 1—1.46 acres, 79.71 tons per acre. Total 116.37 tons. 8 pits, 640 cubic feet earth and 366 lbs. of rock excavated. Bed No. 2—5 pits, 375 cubic feet earth and very little rock. (Marl). Analysis 2749 -Sand 58.53, Carbonate 4.09, bone phosphate 27. SS per cent. 39. A. D. Hicks, 1 mile west of Faison's, 0.90 acres, 307.10 tons per acre, =total 276.39 tons. 9 pits, 720 cubic feet earth and 1405 lbs. of rock excavated. 40. E. J. & H. J. Faison, 2 miles west of Faison's. 4 pits, 240 cubic feet of earth excavated. Marl 12 feet deep. 41. Mrs. M. E. Pass, 1 mile west of Faison's. 3 pits, 360 cubic feet earth excavated. Some rock in large pieces under marl 10 to 12 feet deep. Analysis 2747—Sand 43.90, Carbonate 5.52, Bone Phosphate 39.99 percent. 42. H. D. Lewis, 4 miles northwest of Faison's. 6 pits, 600 cubic feet of earth excavated. No rock. Large deposit eocene marl and green sand. 43. Lovette J. Lee, 6 miles northwest of Faison's. 19 pits, 1995 cubic feet earth and some rock excavated. Large quantity of eocene marl and green sand. Light grey and white rounded nodules, some so soft that they can be mashed in the hand. Different looking specimens were analyzed separately. Analysis 2746 A. B. C. D. E. White. Grey. White. Grey. Common. Compact. Compact. Gritty. Black. Moisture 2.07 p. c. 2.50 p. c. 0.77 p. c. 2.70 p. c. 0.S1 p.c. Sand and insoluble matter, ._ 1.49 p.c. 0.05 32.79 0.64 45.91 Carbonate of lime, 12.00 8.98 1,45 7.07 5.S4 Bone phosphate, ...71.82 76. S2 7.42 .76.54 36.02 Equivalent to phosphoric acid, 32.90 35.19 3.40 35.06 16.50 Nodules similar to these richest ones were occasionally met with at other places, as at J. B. Carr's and A. D. Johnson's, Duplin. 44. Thomas Perritt, 6 miles northwest of Faison's. 9 pits, 720 cubic feet of earth excavated, some rock. Eocene marl. 45. John B. King, 6 miles northwest of Faison's. ro pits, 450 cubic feet of earth excavated, 1^2 acres of rock (very thin). 46. N. J. King, 6 miles west of Faison's. 8 pits, 720 cubic feet of earth and very little rock excavated. Large deposit of marl. 47. M. W. Clifton, 6 miles west of Faison's. 5. pits, 450 cubic feet of earth and very little rock excavated. Marl. 48. G. Weeks, S, W. Weeks and B. Harris, 6 miles west of Faison's. Marl. No rock. 49. W. D. Stevens, 7 miles west of Faison's. S pits, 640 cubic feet of earth and small quantity of rock and fossils excavated. . The Phosphate Exploration. 65 50. F. A. Clifton, 7 miles west of Faison's. 4 pits, 240 cubic feet of earth and eocene marl excavated. No rock. 51. J. W. Giddens and Mrs. Troublefield, 6 miles west of Faison's. 3 pits, 180 cubic feet of marl and green sand. Some rock. 52. B. H. Hatcher, 5 miles southwest of Faison's. 0.80 acres, 293.31 tons per acre=total 234.65 tons. 8 pits, 480 cubic feet of earth and 805 lbs. rock excavated. 53. Mrs. Margaret Smith, 5 miles southwest of Faison's. 2 pits, 150 cubic feet earth excavated. Marl. No rock. 54. Wm. A. Faison, 3% miles west of Warsaw. Bed No. 1—1.20 acres 168.28 tons per acre=total 201.93 tons. 9 pits, 540 cubic feet earth and 904 lbs. rock excavated. Marl in four places. Bed No. 2—0.90 acres, 70 tons per acre=total 63 tons. 12 pits, 720 cubic feet and 238 lbs. of rock excavated. Analysis 2812—Sample from four feet below surface near Turkey creek. Sand 46.40, Carbonate 5.25, Bone Phosphate 36.08 per cent. 55. Col. A. M. Faison, ^Vz miles west of Warsaw. Bed No. I—0.55 acres, 133.10 tons per acre=total 73.20 tons. 6 pits, 360 cubic feet and 550 lbs. rock excavated. Bed No. 2—0.34 -acres, 163.35 tons per acre=total 55.54 tons. 2 pits, 90 cubic feet earth and 225 lbs. rock excavated. Analysis 2556—Three feet from surface, 250 yards from dwelling. Sand 39.60, Carbonate 3.01, Bone Phosphate 46.56 per cent. See also 22. 56. N. Daniel, 4 miles west of Warsaw. Bed No. 1—0.34 acres, 163.35 tons per acre=total 55.54 tons. 2 pits, 120 cubic feet earth and 225 lbs. rock excavated. Bed No. 2—5 pits, 300 cubic feet earth excavated. Some rock. 57. Walter Moore, 4 miles west of Warsaw. Marl. Very little rock. 58. Wm. H. Faison, 6 miles southwest of Warsaw 1.20 acres, 107.16 tons per aere=total 128.59 tons. 9 pits, 600 cubic feet earth and 590 lbs. rock ex-cavated. Analysis 2557—South of plank road in ditch 2^ feet below surface. Sand 30.47, Carbonate 4.84, Bone Phosphate 49.47 per cent. 59. Edward Mann, 7 miles southwest of Warsaw. 2.05 acres, 123.42 tons per acre=total 253 tons. 12 pits, 900 cubic feet earth and 850 lbs. rock exca-vated. Analysis 2558—Sand 52.00, Carbonate 3.93, Bone Phosphate 33.60 percent. 60. E. Mann and Mrs. Pigford, 7 miles southwest of Warsaw. 7 pits, 520 cubic feet earth excavated. Some rock. Large deposit of marl. 61. A. J. Daniel, 73^ miles southwest of Warsaw. 6.60 acres, 394.20 tons per acre=total 2601.72 tons. 17 pits, 1275 cubic feet earth and 2930 lbs. rock excavated. Analysis 2559—Sand 42.79, Carbonate 4.20, Bone Phosphate 42.00 per cent. 62. Kilby Hollingsworth, 3 miles northeast of Magnolia. Bed No. 1—1.24 acres, 179.18 tons per acre=total 222.18 tons. 7 pits, 630 cubic feet earth and 617 lbs. rock excavated. Bed No. 2—0.54 acres, 218.83 tons per acre=total 188.17 tons. 2 pits, 2TO cubic feet earth and 240 lbs. rock excavated. 66 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. Analysis 2546—In ditch 3 feet deep, on the top of a white shell marl. Sand 40.92, Carbonate 3.36, Bone Phosphate 46.13 per cent. 63. Alfred Hollingsworth, 3 miles northeast of Magnolia. 2.04 acres, 227.13 Ions per acre=total 463.30 tons. 4 pits, 420 cubic feet earth and 438 lbs. rock excavated. Analysis 2548—Sand 45.20, Carbonate 4.18, Bone Phosphate 40.09 percent. 64. Cicero Bovvden, 3^4 miles northeast of Magnolia. 2 pits, 210 cubic feet earth excavated. Small quantity of rock. 65. Arminius D. Johnson, 8 miles northeast of Magnolia. Bed No. I—2.25 acres, 370.40 tons per acre=total 833.40 tons. 14 pits, 1050 cubic feet earth and 2860 lbs. rock excavated. Bed No. 2—0.48 acres, 341.22 tons per acre =total i6r.78 tons. 7 pits, 420 cubic feet earth and 1410 lbs. rock excavated. A massive rock of this composition (Analysis 2552, Sand 58.54, Carbonate 3.41, Bone Phosphate 29.85 per cent.) Mingled with these, grey nodules with (Analysis 2555), Sand 20.93, Carbonate 3. 83, 'Bone Phosphate 64.62 per cent. 66. George J. McClammy, 6)4 miles northeast of Magnolia. Bed No. I—1.34 acres, 3S9.62 tons per acre=total 522.09 tons. 4 pits, 240 cubic feet earth and 825 lbs. of rock excavated. Bed No. 2—0.50 acres, 228.70 tons per acre==total 114.35 tons. 3 pits, 180 cubic feet earth and 315 lbs. rock excavated. 67. Harper Williams, 6)4 miles northeast of Magnolia. 0.36 acres, 361.50 tons per acre=total 130.14 tons. 3 pits, 180 cubic feet of earth and 415 lfes* rock excavated. 68. W. H. Kornegay, 6 miles northeast of Magnolia. 1.70 acres, 1050.33 tons per acre=total 1785.56 tons. 6 pits, 540 cubic feet and 420 lbs. rock ex-cavated. Analysis 2541—100 yards south of Magnolia-Kenansville road. Sand 38.70, Carbonate 4.65, Bone Phosphate 43.94 per cent. 69. Everette Herring, 7 miles northeast of Magnolia. Bed No. 1—1.80 acres, 393.85 tons per acre=total 708.93 tons. 4 pits, 240 cubic feet earth and 1680 lbs. rock excavated. Bed No. 2—0.53 acres, 300.65 tons per acre=total 159.34 tons. 5 pits, 375 cubic feet and 290 lbs. rock excavated. 70. R. W. Boyette, 3 miles east of Bowden's. 2.08 acres, 86.23 tons per aere=total 179,35 tons. 10 pits, 750 cubic feet earth and 357 lbs. rock exca-vated. Analysis 2636—On Kenansville-Faison road, i}4 feet below surface. Sand 45.72, Carbonate 5.39, Bone Phosphate 38.90 per cent. 71. Jesse Swinson, 4 miles northeast of Bowden's. 3 pits, 180 cubic feet earth excavated. Small quantity of rock. Analysis 2635—One foot below surface in a ditch on south of Goshen Swamp, Sand 38.92, Carbonate 5.16, Bone Phosphate 43.29 per cent. Examinations with spades and augers were made on the lands of R. Swinson, A. Swinson, H. C. Moore, John Swinson, L. W. Hodges, H. Fryar, J. A. Faison, Wentworth Faison, Mrs. W. W. Faison, Mrs. Carr, and others, all located in a section of country about |^ miles northeast of Bowden's Station, and about the same distance southeast of Faison's. Marl was found on almost all of their lands, but no rock of any consequence. The Phosphate Exploration. 07 SUMMARY OF EXPLORATIONS MADE BY THE PHOSPHATE SURVEY UP TO OCTOBER, 1884. Total number of acres explored with pits, following the beds to a depth of 10 feet, 124.98 Total number of pits dug, , 790 Total cubic feet earth excavated, 69,719 Total pounds phosphate taken out, 75,495 Total number of tons in the above, 194.98 Acres, calculated, 50,964.48 Average number of tons per acre, calculated, 406.98 ADDITIONAL LIST OP LOCALITIES WHERE PHOSPHATIC ROCKS WERE FOUND DURING THE SURVEY, BUT WHERE NO REGU-LAR EXPLORATIONS WERE MADE The numbers refer to our list of specimens collected. Analyses calculated on the substance dried at 212°F. io. From the farm of Daniel Bowden, ^ m. East of Bowden's Station, W. & W. R. R., and about 4 m. N. of Warsaw. Found below a bed of blue marl, four to six feet below the surface. Stratum 6 inches thick. Analysis 24S8—Sand 50.02, Carbonate 4.72, Bone Phosphate 33.32 per cent. 11. From the farm of Arthur Weeks, ^ m. W. of Bowden's. Picked up where his well was dug. Analysis 2489—Sand 39.71, Carbonate 4.48, Bone Phosphate 43.29 percent. 16. Rock from farm of David Sandlin, south side Cohorn creek, Onslow, 3 m. N. E. of Richlands. Analysis 2494—Sand 12.27, Carbonate 60.62, Bone Phosphate 12.24 per cent. 17. Coprolites from the farm of J. M. F. Brock, 2 m. N. E. of Richlands, Onslow county. From bed of a ditch. Said to be in large quantities, and in Jenkins' branch, very accessible. Analysis 2495—Two kinds. White, Sand 53.91, Carbonate 4. 57, Bone Phos-phate 31.50 ; dark, Sand 4.95, Carbonate 88.94, Bone Phosphate 2.30 percent. 18. Coprolites from the farm of L. Franks, 2 in. N. E. of Richlands, and N. side of Cohorn Creek and near White Oak Swamp. Found on the surface on the side of a hill. Analysis 2496—Sand 25.36, Carbonate 9.77, Bone Phosphate 50. 6o^per cent. 21. The marl bed of W. Ff. Kornegay, 3 m. from Kenansville on the^Mag-nolia road. Found under marl 100 yards S. of road, in opening made by Dr. W. B. Phillips, for Navassa Guano. Co. Analysis 2541—Sand 38.70, Carbonate 4.65, Bone Phosphate 43.94 percent. 25. The farm of J. A. Boyette, ij^ m. E. of Warsaw, and between the two roads from Warsaw to Kenansville. Found in a ditch 2 feet below the surface in large quantities, very accessible. 68 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. Analysis 2545—Sand 48.56, Carbonate 2,95, Bone Phosphate 37.72 percent. 33. Farm of G. W. McClammy, 3 m. West of Kenansville on Kenansville- Magnolia road. Five feet below surface near a ditch, marl in the vicinity. Analysis 2553—Sand 37.75, Carbonate 4.39, Bone Phosphate 45.29 per cent. 34. Coprolites from the farm of J. B. Carr, 5 m. N. of Kenansville, on the road to Faison's depot. Analysis 2554—Sand 3.55, Carbonate 3.74, Bone Phosphate 73.38 per cent. 35. Coprolites from the farm of A. D. Johnson, 1^ m. S. W. of Kenansville, on the old Newbern-Fayetteville road. They appear to be rich. Analysis 2555—Sand 20.93, Carbonate 3.83, Bone Phosphate 64.62 percent. 40. A ditch which divides farms of J. K. Williams and A. Blanchard, 4 m. W. of Warsaw, in Duplin county, and S. W. of Col. A. M. Faison's. Stratum 6 to 8 inches, and 2>% feet below surface. Analysis 2560—Sand 43.11, Carbonate 4.54, Bone Phosphate 42.20 percent. 41. Found in a ditch which divides the farms of John Blanchard and Col. Faison, 3 feet below surface, in Duplin county. Stratum 8 inches. Analysis 2561—Sand 40.12, Carbonate 3.59, Bone Phosphate 45.05 per cent. 42. Found 3 feet below surface on lower edge of a hill 3 m. S. of Warsaw, on E. side of W. & W. R. R., on farm of W. C. Carlton, in Duplin county. Stratum 6 to 8 inches. Analysis 2562—Sand 48.13, Carbonate 3.17, Bone Phosphate-39.40 per cent. 43. Found 2)4. feet below surface, on the farm of W. H. Windows, 2)4 rn. S. E. of Warsaw, on the Magnolia road, and on E. side of W. & W. R. R. in Duplin county. Stratum 10 inches. Analysis 2563—-Sand 42.06, Carbonate 3.65, Bone Phosphate 45.16 per cent. 44. Found in a pit of blue marl 4 feet below surface, on same farm. Stratum 6 to 8 inches. Analysis 2564—Sand 48.32, Carbonate 3.50, Bone Phosphate 37.95 per cent. 45. Found on the surface on the side of a hill on the same farm. Analysis 2565—Sand 52.52, Carbonate 2.84, Bone Phosphate 31.45 per cent. 46. From bottom of a ditch 2 feet deep, which leads from the marl pit, where 44 was found, W. H. Window's farm. Analysis 2566—Sand 63.85, Carbonate 1.81, Bone Phosphate 23.05 per cent. 49. Found in a ditch which divides farms of J. R. West and E. A. Merritt, 5 m. S. W. of Warsaw, on S. side of Stuart's creek, 3 feet below surface. Stratum 12 inches, and gives evidence of considerable quantity. Analysis 2632—Sand 47 26, Carbonate 5.09, Bone Phosphate 35.67 per cent. 50. From farm of Thomas Turence, 5 m. S. W. of Warsaw, on S. side of Stuart's creek, on Kenyon and other branches. Found in large quantities and nearly on the surface. Said to be a stratum of 2 feet, and a foot lower another stratum of I foot. Analysis 2633—Sand 62.91. Carbonate 4.18, Bone Phosphate 25.41 per cent. 51. From the farm of A. West, 6 m. S. W. of Warsaw, and S. of Stuart's creek, on a tributary of said creek. Two and a half feet below surface in bot-tom of a ditch. Stratum 8 to 10 inches, and indications of some quantity. \ The Phosphate Exploration. 69 Analysis 2634—Sand 25.73, Carbonate 7.50, Bone Phosphate 53.75 per cent. 56. From farm of L. Aaron, I m. S. E. of Warsaw, and adjoining farm of J. W. Best. Three feet below surface and in quantity. Stratum 8 inches. Analysis 2639—Sand 51.63, Carbonate 4.45, Bone Phosphate 36.70 per cent. 65. From farm of Henry Best, 3 m. W. of Warsaw. 4 feet below surface. Analysis 2648—Sand 45.92, Carbonate 4.93, Bone Phosphate 39.32 per cent. 67. Farm of J. F. Croom, in Duplin county, r m. E. of Magnolia, on Ke-nansville road, 4 feet below surface, on top of marl. Stratum 8 inches. In fair quantities. Analysis 2650—Sand 49.93, Carbonate 6.52, Bone Phosphate 35.98 per cent. 68. Natural well on land of M. West, in Duplin county, 2 m. S. W. of Mag-nolia, and near the road to Harrell's Store, 12 feet below surface, under a stratum of white shell marl 4 feet thick, and on top of a solid bed of blue marl. Stratum 6 inches. Analysis 2651—Sand 44.37, Carbonate 6.50, Bone Phosphate 36.84 per cent. A sample (No. 69) accompanying this and marked " Blue Marl," was found to contain (Analysis 2652) sand 42.79, Carbonate of Lime 47.73, and Bone Phos-phate 1. 1 1 per cent. 70. Farm of J. S. Taylor, 3 m. S. W. of Magnolia. Analysis 2653—Sand 37.47, Carbonate 6.91, Bone Phosphate 31.67 per cent. 71. Farm of J. R. Wells, Duplin county, 4 m. S. W. of Magnolia. From surface, said to be in large quantities. Analysis 2654—Sand 46.86, Carbonate 3.64, Bone Phosphate 32.99 per cent. 72. Farm of S. Boone, (col.) in Duplin county, 4 m. S. W. of Magnolia. Analysis 2655—Sand 37.60, Carbonate 5.07, Bone Phosphate 32.64 per cent. 73. Farm of A. S. Colwell, in Duplin county, 8 m. W. of Duplin Road, on Iron Mine creek, 4 feet below surface, and seemingly in large quantities. Analysis 2656—Sand 59.24, Carbonate 3.1 1, Bone Phosphate 31.13 per cent. 74. Farm of J. Alderman, in Pender county, 8 m. S. W. of Duplin Road, 3^ feet below surface, in a ditch on S. of Doctor's creek. Analysis 2657—Sand 56.95, Carbonate 6.70, Bone Phosphate 29.36 per cent. 75. Farm of F. Johnson, in Sampson county, 1 m. E. of Harrell's Store on Powell creek, 3 feet below surface. Analysis 2658. 76. J. F. Taylor's farm, in Sampson county, 1 m. E. of Harrell's Store on Powell creek, 3 feet below surface. Analysis 2659. 77. Lewis Highsmith's farm, in Sampson county, 1 m. S. of Harrell's Store, 3*^ feet below surface. Analysis 2660. 78. T. N. Fennell's farm, in Sampson county, 1 m. S. of Harrell's Store, on Pharisee creek, (a tributary of Doctor's creek,) 3^ feet below surface.' Analy-sis 2661. 75 Sand and insoluble, 47. 18 p. c. Carbonate of lime, 5.91 " Bone phosphate, 28.09 " 79. " Specimens of bones," from farm of T. N. Fennell, I m. S. of Harrell's Store, from ditch 2 feet deep. 76 77 78 47-41 P- c. 70.78 p. c. 54-96 P- c, 5.27 " 4.20 " 3.91 " 38.31 " 20.24 " 32.05 " 70 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. Analysis 2662 — A. is fossil bone, B. is the common phosphate rock. A. B. Sand and insoluble, 1.58 per cent. 51-75 Carbonate of lime,. 9.55 " 4-52 Bone phosphate, 69.55 " 3 2 -53 80. R. P. Matthis' farm, in Sampson county, 3 m. E. of Clinton, on plank road, 3^ feet below the surface, on a branch tributary to Six Runs. Analy-sis 2663. 81. W. K. Pigford's farm, 4 miles N. of Clinton, in Sampson county, 4 feet below surface, on a branch tributary to Six Runs. Analysis 2664. 82. L. A. Powell's farm, in Sampson county, 10 m. S. E. of Clinton, 5 feet below surface in marl bed. Stratum about 6 inches. Analysis 2665. 83. Rev. Allen Whitfield's farm in Sampson county, 6 m. N. of Clinton. Found 3 feet below surface in seemingly large quantities, in a stream, tributary to Six Runs. Stratum about 6 inches. Analysis 2666. 80 81 82 83 Sand and insoluble, 49. 34 p. c. 29.41 p. c. 51.93 p. c. 50.42 p. c. Carbonate of lime, 4.66 " 5.68 " 6.43 " 1.86 " Bone phosphate, 33.62 " 38.09 " 29.93 " 35-52 " 84. From J. H. Pugh's farm, in Sampson county, ij4, m N. of Clinton, 2% feet below surface on a stream tributary to Great Coharie. Stratum about 8 inches. Quantity seems large. Analysis 2667—Sand 45.99, Carbonate of lime 4.07, Bone Phosphate 36.33 per cent. 85. A rock from Louis M. Boykin's farm, 8 m. S. W. of Clinton, on the Great Coharie, comes with this legend. " Found on the second lowgrpunds in considerable quantities. It is supposed to contain some phosphoric acid and potash, because, as Mr. Boykin says, the crop of corn is always double where this rock underlies the surface. Found on the surface and to two feet below. Sampson county." Analysis 2668—Sand 58.03, Carbonate of Lime 0.98, Bone Phosphate 12 99 per cent. A very small amount of potash and soda. Unquestionably this must enrich the soil in contact with it. The next four specimens were marked " Coprolites," a term which has been used to designate supposed fossil excrements, as distinguished from the common phosphate rock. It is a mistake ; they are only worn specimens of the ordinary phosphate of this section. 86. "Coprolites" from Spencer Merritt's farm, 13 m. S. E. of Clinton, in Sampson county, 2 feet below the surface. Large quantity. Analysis 2669. 87. Farm of J. D. Carter, in Sampson county, 17 m. S. of Clinton, in a marl bed 4 feet below surface. Analysis 2670. 88. Farm of J. H. Pugh, Sampson county. Quantity good, has a glazed surface. Analysis 2671. The Phosphate Exploration. 71 89. Farm of L. A. Powell, in Sampson county, 10 m. S. E. of Clinton, in marl bed 5 feet below surface. Large quantity. Analysis 2672. 86 87 88 89 Sand and insoluble, ..32. 16 p. c. 44.99 p. c. 36.04 p. c. 52.53 p. c. Carbonate of lime, 3.91 '• 5.25 " 4.71 " 5.68 " Bone phosphate, 50.73 " 37-70 " 44.82 " 32.22 " 90. " Coprolites," from farm of D. B. Nicholson, in Sampson county, 8 m. S. E. of Clinton. Analysis 2673—A. is a poor phosphate rock, B. is a silicious limestone. A B Sand and insoluble, 53.43 per cent. 41.57 per cent. Carbonate of lime, 6.43 '" 53-55 Bone phosphate, 29.47 " about 2 92. From J. B. King's farm, in Sampson county, 6 m. W. of Faison, on Clinton-Goldsboro road, 3 feet below surface, on tributary to Six Runs. Black, very massive. Stratum 8 inches, Analysis 2739—Sand 60.29, Carbonate 3.52, Bone Phosphate 26.52 per cent. 93. From A. H. King's farm in Sampson county, 11 m. N. W. of Faison's, on Faison-Raleigh road, 3 feet below surface in Six Runs. Very massive, quantity seems good. Stratum 8 inches. Analysis 2740—Sand 42.97, Carbonate 4. 11, Bone Phosphate 39.51 per cent. 94. From J. C. Hobbs' farm in Sampson county, 14 m. N. W. of Faison's, at Hobbs' Cross Roads. Found in a tributary to Great Coharie, 2 feet below surface, gray and massive. Stratum 6 inches. Analysis 2741—Sand 61.54, Carbonate 2.68, Bone Phosphate 28.16 per cent. 95. From farm of A. Rich, in Duplin county, 2,]/2 m. S. of Faison's on W. & W. R. R., 3 feet below surface, in marl bed. Looks rich, black, massive. Quantity seems good. Stratum .8 inches, on stream tributary to Bear Swamp. Analysis 2742—Sand 34.60, Carbonate 5.71, Bone Phosphate 46.19 per cent. 96. L. T. Hicks' farm, in Duplin county, 3 m. S. W. of Faison's, 3 feet below surface in marl bed, on branch tributary to Bear Swamp. Quantity seems good. Stratum 8 inches. Rock black, sandy. Analysis 2743—Sand 35.76, Carbonate 5.11, Bone Phosphate 43.53 per cent. 98. C. C. Rick's farm, in Duplin county, 2]/^ m. S. E. of Faison's; near W. & W. R. R., 3 feet below surface in a branch tributary to Bear Swamp. Stratum 6 inches. Black, quantity large. Analysis 2745—Sand 43. 81, Carbonate 5.36, Bone Phosphate 24.93 per cent. 102. Phosphate rock from farm of Isham R. Faison, in western suburbs of Faison's, about six feet below the surface, black and very massive. Stratum about 12 inches. Quantity seems good. Marl. This rock has been exposed for many years. Duplin county. Analysis 2749—Sand 58.53, Carbonate 4.09, Bone Phosphate 27.88 per cent. 103. Small nodules from farm of R. D. Sessions, 4^ m. N. E. of Whiteville. 72 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station. Stratum about 12 inches. Quantity seems good. On the east side of a stream tributary to White Marsh, in marl bed. Columbus county. Analysis 2750—Sand 50.88, Carbonate 0.80, Bone Phosphate 21.44 per cent. 107. Phosphate rock from same locality as last, 3 feet below surface. Stratum about 12 inches. Quantity good. Analysis 2754—Sand 52.15, Carbonate 9.43, Bone Phosphate 32.53 per cent. 66. Farm of R. D. Sessions, near Whitevilie, in Columbus county. Said to be in large quantities and near surface. Analysis 2649—Sand 51.19, Carbonate 10.91, Bone Phosphate 23.97 per cent. 104. Phosphates from cut on "Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, % m. N. of Faison's, about ten feet below surface. Quantity seems good. Marl. On a ditch tri
Object Description
Description
Title | Annual report of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station |
Date | 1884 |
Publisher | [Raleigh, N.C.?]: Board of Agriculture,1879-1944. |
Rights | State Document see http://digital.ncdcr.gov/u?/p249901coll22,63754 |
Collection | North Carolina State Documents Collection. State Library of North Carolina |
Language | English |
Digital Characteristics-A | 111 p.; 8.01 MB |
Digital Collection | North Carolina Digital State Documents Collection |
Digital Format | application/pdf |
Audience | All |
Pres File Name-M | pubs_ag_aragriculturalexperiment18831887.pdf |
Pres Local File Path-M | Preservation_content\StatePubs\pubs_ag\images_master |
Full Text |
Agricultural Experiment Station.
ANNUAL REPORT
OF THE
'xaMEJVTS
OF
.Chas. W. Dabney, Jr.
NORTH CAROLINA
Agricultural Experiment Station,
:fo:r 1884.
Published toy order of the Board of A griculture.'
RALEIGH:
P. M. HALE, STATE PRINTER AND BINDER.
1885.
Office of the North Carolina
Agricultural Experiment Station,
Raleigh, N. C, March 15th, 1885.
To Governor A. M. Scales,
Chairman of the Board of Agriculture :
Sir:—I have the honor to submit herewith the Annual
Report of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment
Station for the year 1884. I trust it will prove satisfactory
to 3'our Excellency and the Board of Agriculture.
Respectfully yours,
CHAS. W. DABNEY, Jr.,
Director.
Presses of
Edwards, Broughton & Co.,
Raleigh, N. C.
N. C. STAT3 LIBRARY.
Nerlh Garelina State Beard of Agricaltare.
1884.
Governor THOMAS J. JARVIS,
{Ex Officio), Chairman.
Col. Thomas M. Holt, ! Col. W. Forney Green,
President of the State Agric. Society. 4th Congressional District.
Kemp P. Battle, LL. D., \ Col. J. D. Glenn,
President of the State University.
5 th Congressional District.
W. R. Williams, Esq., John RoBINSONf Esq.,
Master of the State Grange, Patrons 6th Congressional District,
of Husbandry.
Col. R. W. Wharton,
1st Congressional District.
Dr. A. G. Brooks,
2d Congressional District.
John A. Oates, Esq., | Dr. C. D. Smith,
3d Congressional District. | 9th Congressional District.
A. Leazar, Esq.,
7th Congressional District.
Burwell Blanton, Esq.,
8th Congressional District.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
Gov. THOMAS J. JARVIS, Col. THOMAS M. HOLT,
Col. W. F. GREEN.
OFFICERS.
MONTFORD McGEHEE, Commissioner.
PETER M. WILSON, Secretary.
STEPHEN G. WORTH, Suft of Fish and Fisheries.
CHARLES W. DABNEY, Jr., Chemist and Ditector
of the Experiment Station.
ASSISTANTS IN THE EXPERIMENT STATION.
Balduin von Herff, Ph. D. Frank B. Dancy, A. B.
Herbert B. Battle, B. S. W. A. Withers, A. B.
4 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
THE NORTH CAROLINA
Agricultural Experiment Station,
This institution was established by Act of the General
Assembly of 1877, for the advancement of North Carolina
agriculture. The Station now occupies the large and hand-some
apartments assigned it in the Agricultural Depart-ment
Building in Raleigh. The Laboratory is a complete
one in every respect.
Every North Carolina farmer, and every person interested
in developing our agriculture or other industries, has a right
to call upon the Station for any information or assistance
which it is within the province of the Station to render
:
and the Station will do all that lies in its power to meet
these requests.
The work of the Station will include, as heretofore
:
The analysis of all Fertilizers legally on sale in the State ;
The analysis of Agricultural Chemicals, of Composts and
Home-made Fertilizers, and of all materials from which
they can be made;
The analysis of Soils, Marls and Mucks;
The analysis of Feeding-Stuffs;
The examination of Seeds with reference to their purity,
and capacity to germinate.
The examination of Grasses and Weeds;
The study of Insects injurious to vegetation ;
The analysis of Minerals, Ores and Mineral waters;
The analysis of Drinking Waters, and Articles of Food ;
Practical experiments upon different crops, with different
manures, &c.
Numerous publications upon these and kindred subjects
are mailed free of charge. Correspondence is invited upon
subjects pertaining to scientific agriculture. Address
Dr. CHAS. W. DABNEY, Jr, Director,
Raleigh, N. 0.
Directions for Sending Samples. 5
DIRECTIONS FOR SENDING SAMPLES.
Fertilizers are sampled by the regular Inspector for official
analysis. When other analyses are necessary, take a sample
from at least one-tenth of the packages in the lot, mix these
samples thoroughly upon a sheet of paper, draw a half
pound sample from this pile, put it into an air-tight pack-age
and send to the Station as directed below. Fill up the
"Form for Description of Fertilizer Samples," and send by
mail. Chemicals, Composts, Manures, Feeding-stuffs and Arti-cles
of Food may be sampled in similar manner.
Soils, Marls and Mucks are best sampled by taking at a
spot of supposed average character, a section from top to
sub-soil, or from top to bottom of the layer, and packing it
closely in a cigar box so that it cannot break up.
Mineral and Drinking Waters must be put up in clean two
to five gallon jugs or demijohns, securely packed in straw.
The Express Company transports all kinds of samples when
properly packed. Parcels by Express, to receive attention,
must be prepaid.
By mail, as fourth class matter (one cent for each ounce),
can be sent the following : Samples of ores, minerals, marls,
seeds, plant-cuttings, bulbs, roots, feeding-stuffs—all kinds
of samples, in fact, except liquids, poisons, explosive or in-flammable
articles and articles liable to injure the mail bag
or persons handling ; packed in pasteboard boxes or paper
and securely tied. Samples of fertilizers, chemicals, com-posts
and mucks must be put in a glass bottle, sealed, and
the bottle then packed in a wooden or tin box in cotton or
saw dust, to be forwarded by mail.
Write your name and address, preceded by the word
" from " upon all packages, and put some mark, word or
number upon them by which to identify them. Enter this
mark or number upon the " Form." This is very important.
Instructions and forms for sending samples, on application.
Address all packages to Experiment Station,
P. 0. Drawer 33. Raleigh, N. G.
6 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
PUBLICATIONS
OF THE
Herth CareliFia Exxperirr\erit Station
1878 to 1885.
This list includes reports, special publications and con-tributions
to the Bulletin of the Department of Agriculture,
but excludes all circulars, directions, and forms. Unless
marked otherwise, they are unbound.
The following were issued under the Directorship of Dr.
Albert R. Ledoux
:
Directions for making Vinegar, 1878, 4 pages ;
Analyses and Valuations of Fertilizers, 1877-78, 3© pages
;
Ville's formulae for composting and others, furnished by
Dr. Ledoux, 1878, 16 pages ;
The Sugar Beet in North Carolina, 1878, 50 pages
;
Silica vs. Ammonia, results of comparative soil-tests of
Popplein's Silicated Phosphate, with a number of ammo-niated
guanos, 1878, 24 pages:
Analyses and Valuations of Fertilizers for 1877 and 1878,
republished, 1879, 16 pages
;
Report of the Director to the Legislature, January, 1879,
Document No. 8, 16 pages;
Analyses and Valuations of Fertilizers for 1879, 8 pages;
Formulae for composting, 1879, 16 pages;
Report of the Station for 1879, (bound) 198 pages;
Report of the Station for 1880, including Analyses of Fer-tilizers
for that year, (bound) 148 pages.
The following were issued by Dr. Charles W. Dabney, Jr.
:
Report to the Legislature, January, 1881, 16 pages;
Analyses of Drinking Waters, Bulletin for January, 1881
Value of active ingredients of Fertilizers, Bulletin for
February, 1881;
Publications. 7
The use of Agricultural Chemicals, Bulletin for March,
1881;
Analyses and Valuations of Fertilizers and Chemicals,
1881, 16 pages;
Adulterated Chemicals, Bulletin for July, 1881
;
Analyses and Valuations of Fertilizers, 2d edition, 1881,
12 pages
;
Report of the Station for 1881, (bound) 172 pages;
Trade in Fertilizers—Extension in Cotton Culture, Bul-letin
for January, 1882;
Home-made Manures—High-manuring on Cotton, Bulle-tin
for February, 1882;
Does Cotton exhaust ? Cotton seed and its uses, Bulletin
for March, 1882;
Stable Manure, saved and composted—Rice products as a
feeding-stuff, Bulletin for April, 1882
;
Analyses of Fertilizers, 1882, 8 pages
;
Analyses of Fertilizers, 2d edition, 1882, 12 pages;
Experience with Home-made Manures, Bulletin for June,
1882;
Report of work done for the State Board of Health, 1881,
8 pages
;
Treatment of Cotton Lands—Station at State Fair, Bul-letin
for October, 1882
;
Report of the Station 1882, (bound) 152 pages
;
Horn, Leather and Wool-waste, and the Fertilizers made
from them, 1882, 10 pages
;
Finely-ground Phosphates or "Floats," 1882, 10 pages;
On Kainite, 1882, 28 pages;
Rice and its Products—Food and Fodder plants, Bulletin
May, 1882
;
The Soja Bean—Waste products of Tobacco Factories,
Bulletin May, 1883
;
Analyses of Fertilizers, 1883, 16 pages;
Analyses of Fertilizers, 2d Edition, 1883, 16 pages;
Cotton seed and its Products, Bulletin June, 1883
;
8 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
N. C. Resources for Commercial Fertilizers,
I. Ammoniates;
II. Potash sources, Bulletin Dec, 1883;
III. Phosphates, Bulletin, January, 1884;
The trade in Fertilizers during 1883, 12 pages;
Cost of the Ingredients of Fertilizers, Bulletin Feb., 1884 ;
The Phosphate Investigation, Bulletin March, 1884;
Analyses of Fertilizers, season of 1884, 16 pages
;
Composition of N. C. Phospbates,®Bulletin April, 1884;
N. C. Phosphates, report on, 26 pages;
Report of Station, 1883, (bound) 104 pages.
Report oe the Director. 9
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR
OF THE
Agricultural Experiment Station,
FOR 1884.
WORK OF THE STATION DURING THE YEAR.
The requirements of the law regarding the work of the
Station may be classified as follows:
The analysis of all fertilizers legally on sale in the State.
The analysis of agricultural chemicals, of composts and
home-made fertilizers and all materials from which they
can be made.
The analysis of soils, marls and mucks.
The analysis of feeding-stuffs.
The examination of seeds with reference to their purity
and capacity to germinate.
The examination of grasses and weeds.
The study of insects injurious to vegetation.
The analysis of minerals, ores and mineral waters for the
State Geologist.
The analysis of drinking water, articles of food, (fee, for
the State Board of Health.
Practical experiments upon different crops, with different
manures, upon new crops which it may be desirable to in-troduce,
and upon such other subjects as the Department
may direct.
Some work has been done in all of these directions as
will be seen. The Station continues to be chiefly occupied
with the work of the Fertilizer Control and that connected
10 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
with the home production of manures. This is, after all,
the subject of the greatest interest and importance to our
farming community.
The trade in fertilizers is permanently established in
North Carolina, and their use will undoubtedly increase
with the development of our lands. Much is being said
at present about the importance of manufactures to the
people of the South. We must manufacture cotton, it is
argued, because we produce the crude material and send it
beyond our borders to be manufactured and consumed. It
is vastly more important for us to manufacture fertilizers,
for which we have the crude material and which we con-sume
at home. The overwhelming importance of this sub-ject
induced the Station to devote a great deal of time and
labor to searching out and examining the resources of North
Carolina for the production of fertilizers. It is impossible
to go into the discussion of the details of this great subject
at this place. It must be sufficient to say, briefly, that the
results of our study of it show that nothing fails North
Carolina from which to produce one hundred thousand tons
of fertilizer per annum except, perhaps, a part of the potash,
which is imported, for the most part, from Germany for all
fertilizer factories, and might just as well be brought to our
ports direct as to Baltimore, New York or Charleston. Our
fisheries, our cotton seed oil-mills, the gas-works of our
towns and our slaughter-houses would supply all of the
ammoniating materials necessary, if properly saved. The
marls and limestones of the eastern section of the State are
sufficient to produce any quantity of lime manures.
PHOSPHATES.
The special feature of the work of the Experiment Station
during last year is the phosphate investigation, and the dis-covery
of workable beds of this important material is the
Work of Station During the Year. 11
most significant recent occurrence in the material develop-ment
of the State. The existence of regular beds of phos-phate,
which had been little more than rumored before that
time, was definitely determined by the work of the Station
and the Engineer of the Board during 1884.
The details of this investigation are published in this re-port,
but it will be well to give a resume of the results at
this place.
Numerous beds of phosphates have been discovered in
Sampson and Duplin counties, chiefly between Faison's on
the north, Hallsville on the east, Wallace Station on the
south, and Clinton on the west, which is a territory about
twenty miles square. Outside of this territory beds have
been noted on Cohorn Creek in Onslow, on Core Creek in
Jones, in Craven, Pender, New Hanover, Bladen, Columbus
and probably Brunswick, all of which need to be more thor-oughly
explored. Seventy-one different localities in the
Sampson-Duplin territory were examined, and workable
beds of phosphates, of a greater or less extent, were found in
fifty-eight of these. Undoubtedly many beds exist in the same
territory which are not yet known. The average amount
of phosphate of lime in twenty-five samples, from beds near-est
the line of the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, was
forty-one per cent. Phosphate rock of this character was
successfully manufactured into superphosphate, distributed
over the State last Spring, and tested by some of the lead-ing
farmers. Eleven-hundredths of an acre yielded forty-eight
tons of clean rock, at a cost of one hundred and sixty-five
dollars for excavation, hauling and loading on board
the cars. From a portion of this, 20 tons of acid phosphate
were made and distributed to 130 farmers. Reports from
55 of these farmers, which have been received, are very
favorable to the North Carolina superphosphate. These
experiments show beyond a doubt not only that we have
good phosphates, but that they will produce results in the
field equal to other phosphates. The phosphate reconnois-
12 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
sance of the Sampson-Duplin territory above mentioned,
gives us the following totals
:
Total number of acres accurately explored 124.98; total
number of pits dug 790 ; total cubic feet of earth excavated
69,719 ; total pounds of phosphate rock actually weighed
75,495 ; calculated average tons per acre 406.98 ; total tons
of phosphate rock in the 124.98 acres explored 50,864.48, or
This 'particular 124.98 acres will yield enough phosphate rock
to make all of the superphosphates sold in North Carolina in one
year. In addition to the above we have explored extensive
beds of phosphates and marls mixed together, occurring in
New Hanover and Pender counties. This material was also
tried on various crops last year with encouraging results.
This is a deposit of great importance and merits a special
exploration.
One hundred and thirty-seven analyses of phosphates
were made at the Station for the regular phosphate survey
and thirty for property owners.
The phosphate reconnoissance has resulted in the discov-ery
of many rich marl beds which were not before known
to exist. The results obtained in the development of marl
beds are well worth all the time and money devoted to this
work.
It is gratifying to be able to report some progress in the
matter of the home production of fertilizers. Two years
ago there was only one company in the State which manipu-lated
superphosphates. This was the Navassa Guano Com-pany
at Wilmington, which has a large plant of acid cham-bers,
mills, mixers, &o, and dees an extensive business.
In 1884 we have, in addition to the above, the Durham
Fertilizer Company, the Goldsboro Oil and Fertilizer Com-pany,
the (Tarboro) Enterprise Fertilizer Company, and the
Raleigh Oil Mill and Fertilizer Company, all manipulators
of superphosphates and doing a good business.
For several years the Station has discussed in the news-papers,
in the Bulletin of the Agricultural Department,
Work of Station During the Year. 13
and in the annual reports, the subject of milling cotton
seed. The use made of this important seed illustrates the
progress of agriculture in the cotton country better than
anything else. Years ago cotton seed was not used at all,
but left to rot at the gin-houses, producing a pestilential
stench, which led them to be regarded simply as a nuisance.
Then it was ascertained that they were a valuable manure,
and they were killed by fermentation, in the manure heaps
and used upon the soil. Next, the farmer learned how
to make a complete manure by composting his cotton seed
with phosphate and potash salts. This state of things rep-resented
a vast improvement though it was far short of
what should be. Each ton of cotton seed contains about
thirty-five gallons of Valuable oil, besides the solid material
of its kernel and its hull, which are not injured by the re-moval
of the oil. The kernels, after they are pressed, give
a rich meal which should all be used for food for stock. As
this meal is rich in nitrogen, and contains some phosphoric
acid and potash, it makes a valuable fertilizer also. After
urging this matter upon the attention of the people of the State
for several years, it is gratifying to be able to say that there are
oil-mills in successful operation atthefollowingplaces: Golds-boro,
New Berne, Elizabeth City, Washington, Raleigh,
Charlotte, and Cronly's, near Wilmington. The meal will
be utilizedas a fertilizer in a decreasing degree for someyears,
while its use as a feed will increase. Many other mills will
follow, and, when our people shall learn how easy it is to
convert it into milk, butter and meat, cotton seed will become
as important a product of our farms as corn or wheat.
The regular work of the Station was interrupted again in
1884, as it was in 1883, by Expositions. The order of the
Board requiring the Director and several of his assistants to
assist in the preparations for the Exhibit of the State at the
State Exposition in October, and the World's Industrial and
Cotton Centennial Exposition at New Orleans, commencing
in December, deprived the Station of the work of these men
14 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
during four months of the year. This detracted largely
from the year's results, and prevented the undertaking of
investigations requiring much time to complete.
The following is a list of the subjects investigated and
articles analyzed at the Station during 1884:
Articles Analyzed. t Ntimber.
Commercial fertilizers, official 116, private 34, total 15c
Composts 4
Marls, phosphatic 39
Phosphates 167
Soils 18
Kainite 5
Cotton seed and Cotton seed meal 2
Dissolved bone and bone meal 3
Gluten 2
Krugite I, sulphate of magnesia 1 2
Plants I, bugs I, identified _ 2
Feeding stuff _ I
Licorice I, whisky I 2
Minerals 152, building stones 2, boiler deposit [ 155
Waters, drinking _ 22
Waters, mineral . 54
Coals - - - - - 12
Flour 1, ashes 2 .- - 3
642
The number of analyses made during 1881 was 450; dur-ing
1882, 459 ; during 1883 it was 453 ; during 1884, 642.
The following publications were made by the Experiment
Station, under directions of the Board, during ]884:
Name. No. copies
distributed.
The Fertilizer Control - - 2,000
Catalogue of the North Carolina Exhibit at Boston 8,000
The North Carolina Phosphates - - 2,000
The Analysis of Fertilizers - 15.000
The Report of the Station for 18S3 -- 10,000
37,000
Work of Station During the Year. 15
The Director feels constrained to repeat the following re-marks
from the reoort to vour honorable Board for 1882
:
AN EXPERIMENTAL FARM.
The third clause of section twelve of An Act to Establish a
Department of Agriculture, &c, reads: " He (the Chemist)
shall also, under the direction of the said department, carry
on experiments on the nutrition and growth of plants with
a view to ascertain what fertilizers are best suited to the va-rious
crops of this State, and whether othir crops may not
be advantageously grown on its soils, and shall carry on
such other investigations as the said department may
direct."
The law thus distinctly provides for practical farm ex-periments
by your State Chemist. But how is the Chemist
to perform his duty? At present he has no effectual means
whatever of so doing. We believe that the time has now
arrived when this work can and ought to be started. Our
other arrangements are ail complete. The expenditures
upon the Expositions are supposed to be at an end. Our
people expect progress of us. We have no right to stand
back from any work which we are thus directed to do, and
which will tend to promote the progress of agriculture in
the State.
There are thousands of questions which call for careful,
scientific investigation. These problems require special
training on the part of the experimenters, and they require
time, care and money, which the ordinary farmer cannot
command. These results are for the general benefit, and it
is the duty of the State to perform them. In the nature of
things, the ordinary farmer cannot make them for himself.
We in North Carolina have our own peculiar problems
connected writh our own special crops. There are questions
of the greatest importance connected with cotton, tobacco,
16 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
and corn, which demand our attention, and it is not proba-ble
that anybody can or will solve them for us.
We urge you to the investment of a moderate amount in
an experimental farm, again, as a means of turning our
present investment in the chemical laboratory to better ac-count.
Theory and practice go hand in hand in the natural
sciences. Our experiments in the laboratory are necessarily
much limited, if we cannot test them in practice. If we had
an associated farm, our laboratory work would be able to ex-pand
into far greater usefulness. We would then be able to
unite the two great motors of modern scientific progress, hy-pothesis
and experiment, in one effort for the advancement
of our Agriculture.
Laws Controlling the Station. 17
ESTABLISHING THE STATION AND CONTROL-LING
THE TRADE IN FERTILIZERS.
The following extracts contain the sections pertaining to
this subject now in force :
Section 7 of "An Act to establish a Department of Agricul-ture,
Immigration and Statistics, and for the Encouragement of
Sheep Husbandry" viz: "The Board of Agriculture is en-trusted
with the enforcement and supervision of the laws
and regulations which are, or may be, enacted in this State
for the sale of commercial fertilizers and seeds."
"Sec. 8. That no manipulated guano, superphosphate, or
other commercial fertilizer, shall be sold, or offered for sale
in this State, until the manufacturer, or person importing
the same, shall first obtain a license therefor from the Treas-urer
of the State, for which they shall pay a privilege tax
of five hundred dollars per annum for each separate brand
or quality, (and he shall also pay a tax of fifty cents per ton
for every ton sold.*) Any person, corporation or company,
who shall violate the provisions of this act, or who shall
sell, or offer for sale, any such fertilizer, contrary to the pro-visions
above set forth, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor,
and upon conviction shall be fined or imprisoned at the
discretion of the court."
" Sec, 9. And every bag, barrel, or other package of such
fertilizer as above designated, offered for sale in this State,
shall have thereon a plainly printed label or stamp,f which
*This tax of 50 cents repealed by a Supplemental Act ratified March 7th, 1877.
fSee page 22.
18 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
shall truly set forth the name, location and trade mark of
the manufacturer, also the chemical composition of the con-tents
of such package, and the real percentage of any of the
following ingredients asserted to be present, to-wit: soluble
and precipitated phosphoric acid, soluble potassa, ammonia,
or its equivalent in nitrogen, together with the date of its
analyzation, and that the privilege tax provided for in sec-tion
eight has been paid ; and any such fertilizer as shall
be ascertained by analysis not to contain the ingredients
and percentage set forth as above provided, shall be liable
to seizure and condemnation, and when condemned shall
be sold by the Board of Agriculture for the exclusive use
and benefit of the Department of Agriculture. Any mer-chant,
trader, manufacturer, or agent, who shall sell, or offer
for sale, any commercial fertilizer, without having such
labels and stamps as hereinbefore provided attached thereto,
shall be liable to a fine of ten dollars for each separate bag
or barrel or package sold or offered for sale, to be sued for
before any justice of the peace, and to be collected by the
sheriff by distress or otherwise, one half, less the cost, to go to
the party suing, and the remaining half to the Department,
and if any such fertilizer shall be condemned, as herein
provided, it shall be the duty of the Department to have an
analysis made of the same, and cause printed tags or labels
expressing the true chemical ingredients of the same to be
put upon each bag or barrel or package, and shall fix the
commercial value thereof at which it may be sold. And
any person who shall sell, or offer for sale, any such fertili-zer,
in violation of the provisions of this section, shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor."
"Sec. 10. The Department of Agriculture shall have power
and authority at all times to have collected samples of any
commercial fertilizers offered for sale in this State, and have
the same analyzed ; and such samples shall be taken from
at least ten per cent, of the lot from which they may be
selected."
L Awa Controlling the Station. 19
" Sec. 11. It shall be lawful for the Department of Agri-culture
to require the officers, agents or managers of any
railroad or steamboat company, transporting fertilizers in
this State, to furnish monthly statements of the quantity of
fertilizers, with the name of the consignor or consignee, de-livered
on their respective lines, at any and all points within
this State. And said Department is hereby empowered to
compel said officers, agents or managers, to submit their
books for examination, if found expedient so to do; and any
such agents, officers or managers failing or refusing to com-ply
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor."
"Sec. 12. The Department of Agriculture shall establish,
in connection with the Chemical Laboratory of the Univer-sity
at Chapel Hill,* an Agricultural Experiment and Fer-tilizer
Control Station ; and (the Board of Trustees of the
University, with the approval of) the Department of Agri-culture
shall employ an analyst skilled in agricultural
chemistry.f
" It shall be the duty of said chemist to analyze such fertil-izers
and products as may be required by the Department of
Agriculture, and to aid so far as practicable in suppressing
fraud in the sale of commercial fertilizers.
" He shall also, under the direction of said Department,
carry on experiments on the nutrition and growth of plants,
with a view to ascertain what fertilizers are best suited to
the various crops of this State ; and whether other crops may
not be advantageously grown on its soils, and shall carry on
such other investigations as the said Department may direct.
"He shall make regular reports to the said Department
of all analyses and experiments made, which shall be fur-nished,
when deemed useful, to such newspapers as will pub-lish
the same.
* By act of Assembly, 18S1, the Board was instructed to remove the Station
as soon as the new building was ready for it. This was done in August, 18S1.
f Words " Department of Agriculture" and " Board of Trustees of the Uni-versity"
interchanged by a later act.
20 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
" Said chemist shall be subject to the rules and regulations
of the University Laboratory, and the other rules and regu-lations
of the University, and his salary shall be paid out
of the iunds of the Department of Agriculture."
"Sec. 21. It is hereby made the duty of the said Depart-ment
of Agriculture to receive from any manufacturer or
dealer in fertilizers any specimen quantities, not less than
a fourth of a ton, contributed by such party, and have the
same sent to different sections of the State for actual experi-ment
by practical farmers; and the person so experiment-ing
shall be required to make a careful report of the results,
which shall be registered in the office of said Department,
and a certified copy of the same shall be transmitted to the
contributor."
" Sec. 22. That all money arising from the tax or licenses,
from fines and forfeitures, fees for registration "and sale of
lands, not herein otherwise provided for, shall be paid into
the State Treasury and shall be kept on a separate account
by the Treasurer, as a fund for the exclusive use and ben-efit
of the Department of Agriculture ; and until such fund
can be made available, as aforesaid, the Treasurer shall
loan to said Department, out of any moneys not otherwise
appropriated, upon the warrant of the Governor, the sum
of five thousand dollars per annum, for two years from this
date, which sum shall be refunded to the Treasury by the
first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine."
,
" Sec. 23. This act shall be in force from and after its rati-fication,"
&c.
Ratified in General Assembly 12th of March, 1877.
Laws Controlling the Station. 21
An Act to amend an Act to Establish a Department of
Agriculture, Immigration and Statistics, and for
the Encouragement of Sheep Husbandry.
The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact :
That the act to establish a Department of Agriculture,
Immigration and Statistics, and for the Encouragement of
Sheep Husbandry, be and the same is hereby amended by
inserting the following clause between the word " condem-nation
" and the word " and," in the fourteenth line of sec-tion
nine, to-wit : as hereinafter prescribed.
That the said act be and the same is hereby further
amended by inserting at the end of the first sentence of said
section, which concludes with the words "Department of
Agriculture," the following clause, to-wit
Section 1. The proceeding to condemn the same shall be
by civil action in the Superior Court of the county where
the fertilizer is on sale, and in the name of the Board of
Agriculture, who shall not be required to give bond for the
prosecution of said action. And at or before the eummons
is issued, the said Board shall, by its agent, make affidavit
before the clerk of said court of these facts
1st. That a license has been obtained for the sale of a fer-tilizer
of a particular brand.
2nd. That samples of the same have been analyzed under
authority of the Board, and found to correspond with the
label attached to the same.
3rd. That the defendant in the summons has in his pos-session,
and on sale, fertilizers of the name and brand, and
bearing a label or stamp representing the analysis made.
4th. That the fertilizers on hand and on sale are spurious,
and do not in fact contain the, ingredients or in the propor-tion
represented by the stamp or label on them. Where-upon
the clerk shall issue his order to the sheriff of the
county to seize and hold all the fertilizers in possession of
22 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
the defendant, labeled or stamped as the affidavit described.
And the sheriff shall seize and hold the fertilizers so seized
until ordered to be surrendered by the judge in term time ;
unless the defendant shall give bond with justified surety,
in double the value of the fertilizers seized, to answer the
judgment of the court, in which case he shall surrender the
fertilizer to the defendant and file this bond in the office of
the clerk of the superior court, and thereafter the action
shall be prosecuted according to the course of the court.
And if it shall be established in the trial that the fertilizers
seized are deficient or inferior to the analysis represented
on the stamp or brand, then the plaintiff in said action shall
recover judgment on the defendant's bond for the value of
the fertilizers seized.
Sec. 2. That section eight of chapter two hundred and
seventy-four, laws of one thousand eight hundred and
seventy -six and one thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven,
be amended by striking out the word " and " between
the words " fine and imprisonment " in the last line of said
section, and insert the word " or," so that it shall read " fine
or imprisonment ; " and by adding to the end of said sec-tion
the following : " And all fertilizers so sold, or offered
for sale, shall be subject to seizure and condemnation in the
same manner as is provided in section one of this act for the
seizure and condemnation of spurious fertilizers, subject,
however, to the discretion of the Board of Agriculture to
release the fertilizers so seized and condemned, upon the
payment of the license tax, and all costs and expenses in-curred
by the Department in such proceeding."
Sec. 3. That section nine of said act be amended by in-serting
after the word " stamp," in the third line of said
section, the following clause :
" A copy of which shalhfbe
filed with the Commissioner of Agriculture at or before the
shipment of such fertilizer into this State, and which shall
be uniformly used, and shall not be changed during the year
for which such license is issued ;
" and by striking out in the
Laws Controlling the Station. 23
third line of said section the word " which," and inserting
the following words : "and the said label or stamp."
Sec. 4. This act shall be in force from and after its ratifi-cation.
In General Assembly read three times, and ratified this
the 4th day of March. A, D. 1881.
The Legislature of 1883 enacted the following additional
clauses
:
1. That whenever any manufacturer of fertilizers shall have
paid the license tax of five hundred dollars, his or their
goods shall not be liable to any further tax whether by city,
town or count}^.
2. Any dealer in fertilizers who may have on hand a quan-tity
not exceeding ten tons when the license for the year
expires, shall not be prevented by the provisions of this or
any other act from selling the same without further taxes.
24 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
THE FERTILIZER CONTROL.
The Experiment Station was established chiefly to give
protection to the farmers of North Carolina in the purchase
of fertilizers. The analysis of fertilizers which constituted
its earliest work has continued to be the most important
portion, although it is no longer the largest part of its work.
It was a wise provision of the law which gave the farmer
this protection at the time it did. The fertilizer trade was
just being established in the State and, while there were many
excellent articles, there were many worthless ones which,
through ignorance more than fraud, were offered the farmers
of the State, who had no means whatever of selecting the
good. This was remedied by the system of careful inspec-tion
and analysis which the Legislature of 1877 gave the
State and which is still in force. The condition of the trade
in fertilizers has steadily improved, 3'ear by year, since that
time. If this control had not been established, it is safe to
say that not one-half the fertilizer now sold would find con-sumption
with us.
This system of Fertilizer Control is based upon two simple
principles: first, the license of the manufacturer to sella
brand or article of a guaranteed composition and grade;
second, the inspection and analysis of all fertilizers, when
licensed, to see that this guarantee is sustained. The first
requirement involves a formal announcement and an exact
statement by the manufacturer of what he proposes to sell.
No particular grade or composition is named in the law, but
the Commissioner of Agriculture is authorized to admit to
competition in the trade of the State every description or
grade of article which can be reasonably supposed to meet
the wants of any crop or farm.
From the nature of a fertilizer its purchaser cannot judge
of its character or richness, as the purchaser of sugar or salt
can of the quality of those articles. The farmer must call
The Fertilizer Control. 25
in the help of the Chemist to dissect the sample, weigh its
valuable ingredients and estimate its worth. It is just this
that the State has provided shall be done once for all of its
agriculturists through the Experiment Station.
REGULATIONS OF THE FERTILIZER CONTROL.
The following ruling of the Board of Agriculture further
defines the classes of articles which are taxable
" At a meeting of the Board of Agriculture, October 15th, 1879, it M'as re-solved
that the following articles shall be admitted free of tax, with such addi-tions
or changes as may afterwards be made by the Executive Committee, upon
consultation with the chemist, viz: Ground Bone, Bone Ash, Ground Bone
Black, Ground Phosphate Rock, or other mineral Phosphate, Nitrogenous or-ganic
matter commercially free from Phosphoric Acid and Potash, Nitrate of
Soda, Nitrate of Potash (Saltpetre), Sulphate of Ammonia, Muriate of Ammo-nia,
Kainite, Sulphate of Magnesia, Sulphate of Potash, Sulphate of Soda,
Muriate of Potash, Lime, Plaster, Ground Cracklings, Ground Tankage, Salt
and Oil of Vitriol."
Upon the following articles the license tax will be exacted :
" Any of the above articles, or others, sold for fertilizing material under any
trade-mark or proprietary brand ; upon Dissolved Bone, Dissolved Bone Black,
Dissolved Mineral Phosphates—(all Acid Phosphates or Superphosphates)—and
upon any two or more of the articles mentioned in the first list, if combined
either chemically or mechanically."
To make plain the requirements of the law in the matter
and to secure uniformity, the following scheme is recom-mended
for the brand :
(Weight of bag). „ __
(Name of Brand) _
(Trade mark) _.
(Manufacturer's Address). _ _ _
Analysis (date)
Available Phosphoric Acid _ _ pr. ct.
Nitrogen (or Ammonia, if claimed) ._ " "
Potash, (if claimed) " "
North Carolina privilege tax paid.
26 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
The phosphoric acid should not be expressed as bone
phosphate alone. By available phosphoric acid is meant
both the soluble and the so-called " reverted." In the deter-mination
of the reverted, what is known to Chemists as the
" Washington method," or citrate of ammonia method, was
used. Total nitrogen will be determined and credit given
for all available forms. Owing to the difficulty in discrim-inating
between the different sources whence nitrogen is
obtained in compound superphosphates, it is not attempted
to give a different valuation to each different nitrogenous
material in these articles. But leather scrap, horn scrap,
wool-waste and similar materials are considered as fraudu-lently
present in such goods, unless special mention is made
thereof. Special steps will always be taken to detect
their presence, and when found in any sufficient amount to
affect the value of the goods, mention will be made of the
fact. Nitrogen may be expressed as such, or as ammonia.
The potash referred to is that soluble in water. It should
be expressed simply as potash (K 8 0). The percentages
may be given within reasonable limits. These limits should
not be greater than two per cent, on the available phos-phoric
acid, J- per cent, on the nitrogen, and J per cent, on
the potash.
Samples of fertilizers are drawn under the supervision
and immediate direction of the Commissioner of Agricul-ture.
Great care is taken to get the fairest possible sample
of the brand offered for sale. Every possible precaution,
fairly within, the powers of an inspector, is taken to attain
this end. The analyses of official samples only are pub-lished.
The Chemist of the Agricultural Experiment Station re-ceives
the sample with a number only. He does not know
the name of the brand until his report of analysis is put on
file in the Commissioner's office. When this has been done,
the actual returns of the analysis are compared with the
composition guaranteed or branded on the bag. The man-
The Fertilizer Control. 27
ufacturer and the dealer or agent selling the same then re-ceive
a copy of the analysis. If the article is shown by the
analysis to be deficient at any point, the manufacturer or
agent has an opportunity to correct the mistake. The mat-ter
having been fully decided, the analysis is published in
the papers of the State. In all cases where the law is not
satisfied promptly, its penalties are exacted.
The Fertilizer Control, as organized in the State, has sup-plied
just what is needed for the protection of the farmer in
the intelligent use of fertilizers, without giving rise to any
artificial or unnecessary restrictions on trade. It is believed
that the law of this State is superior to every other fertilizer
law in these respects. It creates no artificial or arbitrary
limits to the composition of fertilizers. It insures perfectly
good faith between manufacturer, agent and consumer. It
is simple and requires a minimum of machinery, expendi-ture
and of espionage, a thing distinctively disagreeable to
all American citizens. Its history will show that its execu-tion
involves the fewest difficulties or embarrassments for
all concerned.
Fertilizers During 1884.
Under this Control the trade in fertilizers has continued
in a healthy state during the past two years. The following
table shows the number and description of fertilizers licensed
to be sold in North Carolina during the years 1882, '83
and '84 :
1882. 1883. 1884.
" Acid Phosphates," or simple superphosphates _ io n 7
Superphosphates with potash.. 15 15' 10
Ammoniated Superphosphates 55 67 59
Natural Guano. 3 2 3
Agricultural Limes 121
Specialties _ 2 1
86 92 80
28 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
The progress of the trade may be briefly stated, as fol-lows
: Forty-two brands of fertilizers were sold in 1879,
forty-eight in 1880, fifty-nine in 1881, eighty-six in 1882
ninety-two in 1883, and eighty in 1884. Sixty thousand
tons were sold in 1879, the year after the establishment of
the Station, eighty thousand in 1880, eighty-five thousand
in 1881, ninety-two thousand in 1882, ninety-five thousand
in 1883, and probably as much in 1884. During the same
time the price of fertilizers has been as follows: In 1879
phosphoric acid was estimated to cost in North Carolina, on
the average, for soluble, 12J cents ; for reverted, or precipi-tated,
9 cents per pound. Ammonia cost 22 cents, and pot-ash
8 cents per pound. In 1880 the same prices ruled. In
1881 available phosphoric acid was worth 12J cents, while
ammonia went up a little and cost 18.9 cents, on the aver-age,
per pound, potash remaining the same. In 1882, owing
to the introduction of a large quantity of the German potash
salt, the price of potash in manipulated goods went down to
6 cents, while ammonia went up to 25 cents, and available
phosphoric acid remained at 12J cents per pound. In 1883
the activity in the South Carolina phosphates reduced the
cost of available phosphoric acid to our farmers to 10 cents,
while ammonia cost them only 22J, potash remaining still
at 6 cents per pound. In 1884 available phosphoric acid
declined still further to 9 cents, ammonia to 20 cents, and
potash remaining still the same, viz : 6 cents per pound.
During the same time the average composition of ainmoni-ated
superphosphates with potash, that is, the so-called com-plete
fertilizer, was as follows for each year:
AMMONIATED SUPERPHOSPHATE, WITH POTASH.
I!
Available Phosphoric Acid 7.40
Ammonia 2. 70
Potash _ , _ 1.30
AVERAGE IN
1882. 1883. 1884.
8.9I 8.59 8.15
2.6o 2.33 2.67
1.82 2.18 2.13
The Fertilizer Control. 29
Using uniform figures for valuation (9 cents for available
phosphoric acid, 20 cents for ammonia, and 6 cents for pot-ash),
the relative commercial value of the average ammo-niated
superphosphate with potash, as above, is as follows :
In 1880,$25.68; in 1882, $28.62 ; in 1883, $27.40; and in
1884, $27.71.
Analyses of Fertilizers for 1884.
The figures used in estimating the relative values of am-moniated
superphosphates and similar manures during
1884, were
Available phosphoric acid, : _ 9 cents per lb.
Ammonia, — -- -- -~ 20
Potash, 1- - - -- 6 "
These relative valuations merely furnish a convenient
method of summing up the results of the analysis and of
comparing them. They are not designed to fix the price at
which the article shall be sold. It is impossible to give any
one set of figures which shall represent the commercial value
of these ingredients over our extended territory and through-out
the entire year.
As regards the consumption of the different classes of
fertilizers, an inspection of the returns as far as complete
shows that the ammoniated superphosphates with potash,
or artificial guanos, still predominate largely over all other
kinds. The consumption of acid phosphate has increased
somewhat, that of Kainite largely, with the growth of the
practice of composting or mixing manures on the farm.
This is especially true of the cotton county. The better
class of ammoniated superphosphates and Peruvian guano
continue to be the manures preferred in the tobacco and
wheat counties.
The Station made 116 analyses of official samples of com-mercial
fertilizers during 1884, and 33 additional (unpub-lished)
analyses especially for private persons. This does
not include the analyses of phosphates, agricultural chemi-cals
or other ingredients of fertilizers.
30 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
The analyses in the following tables were all made on
samples drawn according to law by the special agents of the
Department of Agriculture from new lots of goods received
in the State after the beginning of the new year. On the
even pages will be found a list of fertilizers licensed to be
sold in the State during the year, with the addresses of the
manufacturers or general agents. On the page opposite the
name is the analysis and relative valuation of the fertilizer.
Very few cases of serious deviation from the standard
adopted were discovered by the Station during the year.
These were nearly all satisfactorily explained and adjusted,
when they were looked into.
The water given is that lost by continual heating at the
temperature of boiling water. The insoluble phosphoric
acid is that contained in phosphates which fail to dissolve
in neutralfammonium citrate solution (sp. qr., LOO). (Wash-ington"
method.) The soluble phosphoric acid is that free
or in form of phosphates, (generally the one—lime phos-phate
or acid phosphate of lime), soluble in pure cold water.
The " reverted " is that insoluble in water, but dissolving
neutral in standard ammonium citrate solution. This is all
that the term reverted signifies here, and it is used simply to
stand for^the phrase, " insoluble in pure water, but soluble
in standard ammonium citrate solution under the standard
conditions." It is generally agreed that it is within the
power of plants to take up directly the phosphates so dis-solving,
or in other words, that these phosphates are
" available."
>
The "total available phosphoric " is simply the sum of
the soluble and " reverted." The nitrogen is given as such,
and calculated to its equivalent, ammonia. The potash is
given as simple, uncombined potash (K 3 0).
The number of the analysis on the Station books is given
in the first column at the left, and the place where this par-ticular
sample was drawn, in the column at the right of the
first page.
32 Annual Report N. C. Experiment Station.
o
c
.2
-4—
>
2442
2761
2614
2506
2684
2511
2520
2529
2449
2451
2523
2610
NAM E.
ADDRESS OF MANUFACTURER
OR GENERAL AGENT.
Acid Phosphate.
Acme Fertilizer,
Ammoniated Dissolv'd Bone
Ammoniated Guano, L.&R.
Ammoniated Phosphate for
Fine Tobacco,
Ammoniated Soluble Na-vassa
Guano,
Anchor Brand,
Anchor Brand Tobacco Fer-tilizer,
Ashepoo Acid Phosphate, . _
Baker's Dissolved Bone
Phosphate,
Baker's Prepared Chemicals
Baker's Standard Guano, _.
Baltimore Guano Co.'s Sol-uble
Bone,
Atlantic Phosphate Co., Char-leston,
S. C,
Acme Manufacturing Co.,
Wilmington, N. C,
John Merryman & Co., 24
Second Street, Baltimore,
Maryland,
Lorentz & Rittler, 10 South
St., Baltimore, Md.,
J. G. Miller & Co., Danville,
Virginia,
Navassa Guano Co., Wilming-ton,
N. C,
Southern Fertilizing Co., 1321
Cary St., Richmond, Va.,
Southern Fertilizer Co., 1321
Cary St., Richmond, Va.
,
Ashepoo Phosphate Co., Rob-ertson,
Taylor & Co., Ag'ts,
Charleston, S. C,
Chemical Co. of Canton, 32
and 34 S. Charles St., Bal-timore,
Md.,
Chemical Co. of Canton, 32
and 34 S. Charles St., Bal-timore,
Md.,
Chemical Co. of Canton, 32
and 34 S. Charles St., Bal-timore,
Md.,
Baltimore Guano Co., 32 and
34 S. Charles St., Baltimore,
Maryland,
SAMPLED
AT
Shelby, 1
Cronly, 2
Lumber- 3
ton,
Wilson, 4
Reidsville, 5
Fremont, 6
Littleton, 7
Oxford, .. 8
Shelby, 9
Shelby,
Franklin-ton,
Monroe,
10
11
12
13
Analysp:s of Commercial Fertilizers. 33
16.06
10. 01
10.6S
16.59
13.68
15.48
14.86
o
3 Ph .
HH P-l |
OCLC number | 5218399 |