The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-12-30
POTASH FOR FARMERS.
INVESTIGATION UNDER LEVER
LAW SUCCESSFUL.
Sec Weed WIN He Source Of Supply
1las VIII Rcuder America Inde-
pendcnt Of German Potash Trust
supply n Abundant and Practically
Inexaustible.

Warrington. Dec. 25.-As the re-
suit Of an appropriation OF s12.500.
made by the last session OF the 61st
Congress. at the instance OF Repre-
sentative A. +. Lever. OF the 7th
South Carolina district. who is tho
ranking member OF the House COM
mittee on agriculture. discovery has
been made which the President Of
the United states deemed Of sufficient
Importance to announce to Congress
IN n special message under date of
December rs. 1914.
.Nr. Levers appropriation was to
2o department Of agriculture In
ms the fertiliscr resources
ktry. As IA coming TO be
tho United States.
the greatest phos-
the world. ~ abso-
Fey OF Germany with
supply Of another es-
Int of commercial fer
b. All OF the potash we
manufacture Of ferti-
be obtained from Ger
that country has adopt
tending 20 restrict the
Of tho supply. which we
h rate OF about els. .0eo, 900
m, the seriousness cf the
may be readily understood.
natter IL OF vital Importance
South. inasnuch a about 80
ht OF all the commercial fer
consumed In the nation n
IN the Southern Shstesl In spite
talk - the contrary. II Il un-
that tae,s viii be any de-
In tie demand for fertilizers.
@ they make the soil more
ctive ana thus AFFORD an incen-
which the business-hke farmer n
le to rexst.
simuitan eously with the use Of the
appropriation Of sis.Soo put at the
disposai OF the department Of asri-
culture at Mr.. Levers instance. the
geological survey secured an appro-
priation Of $4,000 20 AID it u. drill /
ins the silicste rocks OF the Western
desert areas for possible potash sup /,
plies. rhes driliing experiments
have been partially successful and
geological experts believe that even
I tnaily there win be secured from
thesg cstsrn fselds limited amount
Of p1khsh for use In fcrtiIirers; not
qDouGh. hswsvsr. 60 satisfy the
eruntry's growing nssdA !
IRE rsnarksbls development has
resulted from the investigations pur-
sued under the rsver appropriation.
which has been employed In testing
the theory Of DR.. Frank Cameron. Of
the department OF agriculture. that
Ia the great srovss Of kelp. or sea ,
weed along the Pacific coast. there
nes source of potash supply which .
vii not only give the United States
all The potash needed for domestic =
noe =. a reasonable cost. but will
->1v~-- scodiy surplus for exporta-
tion TO other countries.
pr. cameron's inspiration came !
from noticing that the farmers along |
the coast Of Nova Scotia have q
rude method OF fertilizing the soil !
OF their farms by working seaweed !
under the surface. The department !
has already mapped kelp groves along
about one-fourth OF the Pacific coast
line. which should yield three times
- much potash as the present impor-
tations. These seaweeds extract. by
seiec:ive absorption. potash salts
from ;he SCI water .rd when the
seavead is dried these salts are ex-
rAed on the surface The dried
plants contain from % % IS per cent
Of their weight la potassium chloride.
whicn can be easily separated from
the plants. The keips contain also
other by-products. which may event
usiiy. II h thought. pay all the ex-
penses OF exploiting the kelp and thas
leave the potassium free from cost .
The japanese have shown .-hs<S
these by-products Of keip ~ 30
worked. They obtain from this sea
weed not only food for cottln, but
also for hrnnan beings. besides man
ufs turing glue, sheiiac aud paper
from the same source
some % tho Pacirc kelp groves are
I've miles long AM two ,uiss wide
Nearly all of the groves are within
the three mile limit and should be
easily harvested. III properly con-