Phosphate
in chemistry, the generic term for the salts formed by the leading part in the chemistry of animal bases or water or both. They play a union of phosphoric anhydride with bases or water or both. They play a leading part in the chemistry of animal and plant life, the most important in this connection being the phosphate of soda, phosphate of lime, and the basic phosphate ate of magnesia. In agriculture the to plants adequate supply of phosphates to in the form of manures becomes a matter of necessity in all deplenished soils.
These phosphatic manures consist for the most part of bones, ground bones, minguano. guano. phosphoric acid.