Evening star., 1916-05-21
1.-TWO neighbors the coast Of
California met:
III Where are you going this
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iii NdilIol
Ill Where are you going this
- morning. with your moving ma
chine?' was the question casually
asked by the one ashore
About two miles out to sea. to cut
fertilizer. Potash is worth $500 ton
now" was the answer given in mat
ter-of-fact tone.
And the one was not crazy, nor the
other joking. as the moving machine
steamed away from the shore on the
long swell of the Pacific ocean.
1t was only an outfit on its way to
the kelp groves for load of that re-
markabIe marine plant which will. the
Department of Agriculture predicts,
furnish an inexhaustible supply of
potash.
The harvesting crew consists of sew
eral men on a couple of scows. .and
they gather about hundred tons Oh
kelp a day
.'The Furopean war" said DR.. j. W.
Turrentine. chemical engineer of the
Department of Agriculture. has cut off
almost everything which the Cnlted
States was importing from the middle
empires, anu as II te p'h'N'
Iy unon Germany for its supply OF
potash for all purposes. including 'he
nroduction of artificial fertilizers, con-
siderable embarrassment, much more
than is generally realized, mas resuiteo.
Intensive farming, which is incoming
each year more important 10 the sue
cessfuI agriculturist. cannot De hdo
u-irbout potash and its former price,
$40 ton has now advanced to S9oo.
THE annual importation prior 70
1914 of the then low-priced suostaii
had been about 100000 tons, requn
ing the payment of about 12.O0o,ooo
American dollars to the kali-Synolkat.
or potash trust of Germany Even pe
fore the war efforts We're maze 70 Iii,o
in this country supplies of potash sat
isfactorv in quality and in cost OF pro-
duction to be of economic Vaiue. S!I.Ge
the war the necessity OF meeting tnis
demand has speeded UP these ehoi's'
with promising results. .., -,
There is growing recognition oy
people generally of the Vafue 10 nd
ton of governmental aid 10 the ihuus
trial and farming interest, ana III 'nlS
country the departments of the lnte-
rior. Agriculture and Commerce nnd IL
well within their provinces 10 sedrcn
diligently for improved metnooS anu
markets. and to publish the results, so
that individuals and capitalists may
make the most of natural resources:
Incideutally, this is based upon sound
economics and Is the louhudpoi "a ''
tional preparedness.
Thus, if the Department of Agrlcui-
ture can find way to take potash out
of the sea or the land at a low cost, IL
is developing twelve-mlll1on-do -doilar
business and preparing the country IN
case of need, to support itself lhde-
pendently of other nations. ana some
fine day it may require all these re-
sources for it's own protection and sup
port In its search for potash the De-
partment of Agriculture has sent ex-
ploration parties to the sites or old salt
lakes in the deserts. hoping to ma pot
ash mines such as the Germans have.
There they sank shafts through salt
deposits and found potash in quanti-
ties large enough to justify their sci
entifc theories, but failed to locate such
deposits as to justify the capitalist in
mining it. Since in Germany potash de-
posits are associated with deposits of
rock salt. the salt mines of this coun-
try were explored for potash, but with
out favorable results.
The German government. like most
European countries, had assumed the
monopoly of the salt mines. because.
being necessity to every one, the COL
II discovered in the section known as
salts at first regarded as worthless.
but later shown by Liebig to have great
value as a fertilizer. a sort of 'bracer'
fnr rod a h1ic nj nd