208 REPORT ON COOPERATION IN AMERICAN EXPORT TRADE.

the quotation by foreign buyers of one American producer against
another and could eliminate harmful price competition among Americans
 themselves in foreign fields.
By maintaining intelligence and inspection bureaus a combination
could supply members with all the special information prerequisite
to the marketing of a particular product and could fix standards as
to grades, packing, etc. The careless packing of American chemicals
has been the source of much complaint from foreign consignees.
The maintenance of common distributing depots in foreign countries
 would be of great benefit and could be economically accomplished
 by a combination. The number of small packages in the
sxport of chemicals, the continual variations in demand, and the need
of having the articles as fresh as possible make this step necessary.

SECTION 6. PHOSPHATE ROCK.!

Phosphate rock is the principal source of phosphorus used in fertilizers,
 and the United States has the greatest deposits in the world.
The world production in 1913 was nearly 7,000,000 metric tons, of
which the United States produced 45 per cent, Tunis 33 per
cent, France and Belgium together 8 per cent, Algeria 6 per cent,
and the Pacific Islands about 4 per cent. The rock is graded according
 to the percentage of bone phosphate of lime contained. The
foreign demand is.for rock containing the largest percentage. The
highest grade, containing 80 to 83 per cent bone phosphate, comes
from the Pacific Islands, but is produced in comparatively small
quantities. One grade of United States rock, mined mostly in Florida,
ranks next, selling on a minimum guaranty of 77 per cent bone
phosphate. Land pebble phosphate (68 to 75 per cent) ranks third
and is also mined in Florida. Rock from Algiers and Tunis has a
58 per cent minimum, while that extracted in France and Belgium is
a chalk phosphate containing 40 to 50 per cent of bone phosphate
of lime. Out of a total production in the United States in 1913 of over
3,000,000 long tons, 1,366,508 were exported. Before the war Germany
 was the largest buyer of American rock, with the Netherlands,
Great Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, Japan, and Canada following in
the order named. The value of exports from the United States for
the past three years was as follows:

1913...........
1914...
1915

$9, 996, 580
6,771, 652
1.605. 639

In 1913 there were 30 companies engaged in the mining of phosphate
rock in Florida. Of these, 14 were mining hard rock and 16 land
pebble rock. It is estimated, however, that about one-half the

1 For a more detailed description of the phosphate rock industry, see report of Federal Trads Coms
mission on the Fertilizer Industry, 1916, pp. 84-101,