A report on the phosphate fields of South Carolina (1913) (14598460677)

Identifier: reportonphosphat18wagg (find matches)
Title: A report on the phosphate fields of South Carolina
Year: 1913 (1910s)
Authors: Waggaman, William H. (William Henry)
Subjects: Phosphates South Carolina
Publisher: Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
Contributing Library: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
Digitizing Sponsor: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library



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of labor has also advanced from 30 to 50 per cent, andfrequently it is so difficult to obtain hands that the output of rockis seriously curtailed. The equipment of a modern phosphate plantis both elaborate and costly. Steam shovels for excavation, grabbuckets and hoists for taking out the rock, many miles of steel rails,locomotives and flat cars for haulage purposes, heavy machinery forwashing the rock, and large sheds for drying and storing the productare essential parts of the present mining system. (PI. Ill, figs. 1and 2.) On account of the topography of the South Carolina coast, weatherand tide conditions affect the output of phosphate rock. In rainyweather or when the tide is very high the trenches are continuallyfilling with water, the banks caving in, and the continual use ofpumps is necessary to make mining possible. The output of rockunder such conditions is often cut in half, thus practically doublingthe cost of mining per ton. Bui, 18, U, S. Dept, of Agriculture, Plate II,
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Fig. 1 .—Machine Mining. Removing Overburden with Steam Shovel.