The Washington herald., 1909-05-09

velocity. which rays. # is believed, act as
an anti-toxin on the soil. However that
may be. potash. has a wonderfully vital
king effect upon fruit trees. flowers. and
many crops Tobacco needs potash. per-
/ hsps. more than any other crop. Dry
tobacco contains forty parts OF potash IN
every thousand parts. An acre crop OF
tobacco takes seventy pounds OF potash
from the soil Il grows in.
( Although the resources OF Annerfcan
soils have seemed inexhaCstibIe. erzor
nous quantities 0f potash are imported
into this country, chiefly for use in the
I manufacture OF commercial fertilizers.
The annual Imports are little short OF
$4,000 pounds. worth nearly half a nil
/ lion dollars.
/ Scientists have calculated that ferttIe
/ soil contains about ? per cent OF potash.
I An acre Of arabic soil one foot deem
VIII weigh nearly so, 900 pounds AZ that
rate there are nearly 1900 pounds Of
/ potash in an acre OF good land Vsgsta-
ton absorbs the potash theoretically.
therefore. a crop using fifty pounds o.
potash per acre could be grown upon the
same land for 100 consecutive years
without exhausting the potash Compared
with these figures. on one hand, Is the
known fact that some land in the Old
World has been under cultivation fo-
400 years or more. apparently without
exhausting the potash in that soil; while.
on the other hand. there is evidence that
after certain point Is reached. some
crops cannot be grown indefinitely on the
same land. although il may contain con-
siderable potash.
IN a word. nature seems 10 have some
unknown process OF conserving the potash
resources OF the soil. Il she does not
renew them. And well she may because
the removal Of potash from the soil is
very extensive. The most complets re-
movaI Occurs in the case OF such crops
as sugar beets, Of which both the roots
and tops are harvested. A sugar beet
crop is said 10 remove ninety-five pounds
OF potash from an acre oS land Cereal
crops remove 2S pounds Per acre: hay,
IS pounds; potatoes. 80 pounds, and to-
bacco. 20 pounds.
As potash is soluble fl water. the rain
washes It from the soil At the same
tine, however, rain and The other els-
ments promote the decay Of certain rocks.
the principal constituent OF which Is
potash, thus restoring vitality 10 the soil
Lands reclaimed from marshes and sandy
soils need potash badly Besides the
pure German potash fertilizer land nav
be enriched BY the addition OF tobacco
stems, cotton seed huIls. wood ashes. the
straw Of cereal and leguminOus crops.
the residues Of beet sugar factories and
wineries. and other vegetable and animal
substances.
Besides its value as fertilizing agency.
potash IS used 70 considerable extent
in the manufacture Of soap. L forms the
basis OF common lye- Used incidentally,
it is important and IS expected % become
more 50 when its radioactive properties
are better understood. In the form OF
potassium nitrate. or saltpeter Il go-s
10 make Up many explosives IS potzs-
sum cyanide IL is used 70 extract geld
from ore IN the sO-called cyanide process
Potassium bromide. cream OF tartar. and
tartar eTnstic are some Of the common
forms Of potash with which We come IN
contact
Potash Is related in some measure TO
nitrate, Of which nearly 2N00.eo0 tons are
exported every year from Chile and Peru.
The nitrate beds of South America 10
Gated in a bleak desert. have been the
cause Of st least ore war, and they COZ
stitute, perhaps. the most important
source Of revenue for the Chilean gov
ernment- Authorities say that those IL
trste deposits viii last for 20 or 80
years Nitrates have been produced arti-
cially 10 some extent by the use OF cleo
tricity.
The principal associates OF potash IN
the manufacture Of commercial fertil-
izers are nitrate and phosphate, and they
are good only IN some cases America
has rich phosphate lands iu the West
Germany. while holding the worlds sup
ply OF potash, is taking other fertilizing
materials from the United States al
though her economists many years ago
cecTied against q similar practice on
the part Of England. which was at that
time digging up the Napoleonic battle
fields Of the continent to get human bones
for fertilizer
tCopgrisht Ise. b Frederic : Haskiu.J
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