The morning call., 1891-05-05
.M
.MlnRauaazmalIIz

Section OF Chilean Nitrate Dfstrict-aa, the Andes !;
b, Pamya or Valley; d, Region Of Nitrate De
posts; c. Crest Of The coast Cordlera declining to
sea-leVeL.
attraction, nitrate of soda having singu-
lar tendency to creep upward, as expert
ment will show, provided the air be suifl-
clently dry. As for the explanation OF the
present deposits of ''caliche" on one side OF
the pampa only, and always above the level
of the pampa, it is simply that this Dand is
all that remains, the rest having been melted
and washed away. An absolute condition
of the existence of "caliche" is dryness, and
tile desert where it is now found must have
been for thousands and thousands of years
without rain, and should the climate sud
denly change and moisture come in abund-
ance the precious deposits would disappear
like a charm. ~
The extraction of the caliche is simple
operation. After the blasting the caliche is
broken with sledge-hammerS and wedges
into humps of about thirty pounds weight
These are cleaned and separated from rock
ana I'll bbiSh as much as possible before be-
ing ca rried to the crushing machinery, The
hOppers of which are generally fed by hand.
1t is broken up into cubes of about two
inch es in size and these fall into the boiling
tan ks. The caliche is dissolved IN water !;
follow ed by separation by filtration or de-
eantati on Of the substances held in Suspen-
sion in the liquid and which are less soluU4e
salts, earthly matter, or secondary products
originating in the chemical process itself.
Next comes the capitalization of the nitrate
from the clear and pure liquid. 70 describe
the machinery in use would avail nothing,
as, in order to fully understand it, elaborate
plans would have to be presented, each &C
companied by a thorough explanation.
Independent of the use of nitrate in the
manufacture of gunpOwder. it mas been
proven to be a most excellent fertilizer.
Nitrogen is one of the essential nu rient
substances of plants, and no crop can -four
ish without supply OF nitrogen from the
soil. FaTm-yaId manure is rarely sufficient
TO supply the cultivated plant with the
nitrogen it requires TO produce crops Secur-
ing the highest possible clear profit, and the
practical farmer must therefore have re-
course to artificial manure. The two most
important heterogeneous manures are nitrate
of soda and sulphate OF ammonia. Inc
growing increase of the quantities of nitrate
exported to the United States would seem
to indicate that the American farmer is be-
ginning to pay some attention TO scientific
farming. In 1889 1,797, All quintalS OF nj
trateS were shipped from Chile to the east
coast of the United States, and 223, 394
Quintals to California.
The nitrate question is one of vital i'm
portance in Chilean finances. inasmuch as a
royalty levied on exported nitrate, namely
81 go Chilean, at IS pence per metric qulntal
of 100 pounds, is the most important item IN
the revenues of the State, producing an
amount even superior to that of the general
import duties altogether Thus, in the bud
get estimates for 1890 the ''rentas" amount
to total of S23, 010,000 Chilean paper, of
which sum S209O0,o00 is produced by
nitrate roy altes, while in the total pro-
dUced by taxes, namely so, 49,, coo. the gen.
eral import duties figure for $40 665, coo.
Furthermore. it is believed by the Chieans
that. far from diminishing as fiscal ele-
ment and as an international return, nitrate
viii go on increasing IN Importance In future
wears, and will exercise a considerable in
fuence in the material and economical prog
TeSS of the country.