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Show I PHOSPHATE EXTENT I SIPIHiiOUS H Billions of Tons Valuable Plant Food Largest Known H World's Supply. I BETTER LAWS NEEDED H Deposits Located in Utah, H Idaho, Montana and in Vyoming. The largcftt known phosphate field In thn world lien In tho Rocky Mountain region In the elates of Idaho. Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, and most of tho deposits belong to the United States, be-Ing be-Ing on public land. Phosphate rook, an ifl well known. Is the principal source of phonphorus, one of the- three necessary plant fooda. ThH exact boundary of this phonphnto-benrIng area In still undeter-mined, undeter-mined, but each year ns Investigation has boen pushed by tho United States geological survey Its Hinltn have been more accurately defined by extension In some directions and retraction In others, j Phosphate In this general region wan j first discovered in northeastern Utah and 1 southeastern Idaho In the vicinity of the Idaho-Utah Htate lines. From this Io-callty Io-callty the deposits have been traced north, southeast, and west half way across tho states of Idaho. Utah and Wy-omlng. Wy-omlng. and northward lo the vicinity of Helena. In west central Montana, until now tho phosphate beds urn lmown over an area extending approximately 220 miles In an cast-west direction and rJO mllcR from north to south. Only a small 1 part of this territory, of course. Is un-dcrlaln un-dcrlaln by phosphate deposits that are j commercially valuable. Tonnage Is Enormous. In many places the pliospbato beds, al-1 al-1 hough present, oucur nt .such great depths below the surface that they will probably never bo mined: and In other BBS parts of this complexly folded area the BBa phosphate beds have been entirely re-Ba re-Ba moved by erosion. However, the tonnage of high-grade phosphalo rock In this re-glon re-glon Is enormous, the estimates running 1 up Into tlio billions of tons. 1 The rock phosphate itsolf can usually 1 b recognized In the flold by Its oolitic 1 texture that Is, hy the fact that It Is a mass of pro! as like Binall shot cemented togcthor. The rock varies In color from .coaly black In some places It was ongl-nally ongl-nally mistakon for coal to dull gray or Iron stained. Most of tho phosphate rock emits, when broken or struck, a fetid odor, -which la supposed to be characterful character-ful Jptlr of these minerals Its "float" Is characteristically marked with a thin illm of blulsh-whlto boncllkcycoatlng. re-Pcmbllng re-Pcmbllng chalcedony. This coating Is useful in tracing the concealed outcrop In the field by means of scattered frag-inents frag-inents to be found In the overlying soil. Withdrawals Annulled. The first phosphate withdrawal iniiia-led iniiia-led by the United States geological sur-vy sur-vy was mado December 9, 190S, and covered i.o'il.300 acres In Wyoming. Ida-ho Ida-ho and Utah. In making thin withdrawal the township was adopted as the unit, and consequently considerable non-phos-phate land -was Included In the wlth-dravval. wlth-dravval. A3 further field work gave moro detailed Information regarding the loca-Hon loca-Hon of tho phosphate beds, the non-phosphate non-phosphate areas were restored as rapidly as possible. Detailed field examination of tho phosphate area was undertaken by the survey In 1900 and has been con-tinned con-tinned every summer since that time. The original phosphate reserve has thus beon altered by tho restoration of tho non -phosphate tracts and hy additional -withdrawals of phoaphate lands made Hl from tlmo to time, so that on September 1 1, 1912, tho outstanding land withdrawn 1 In this general region amounted to 2,-211. 2,-211. S67 acres. Detailed and reconnaisaanco examlna-Hons examlna-Hons made In 1911 In eastern Idaho and Kouthwestern Wyoming resulted in restor-lug restor-lug to entry El 6.606 acres. Good Laws Are Lacking. Because of the lack of a law separating Hl Hie surface and mineral rights on phos-phate phos-phate lands, the phosphate withdrawals withhold areas included in them from ag-ricultural ag-ricultural entry as well as from entry under the laws appllcablo to phosphate deposits. Tho government, wishing to reduce to tho minimum Interference with th agricultural progress of the west, Is 1 rndoai'orlng. In addition to outlining the 1 possible extension or the phosphate areas H In fields whero tho mineral Is not now H! I.novrn. to examine as rapidly as it can H those areas of the present reserves that H have not been worked in detail, to the H end that they may be reduced to tho H smallest compass consistent with tho ro-fl ro-fl Mention of the valuable phosphate dc- posits by tho United States. |