The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-07-06
POTASH IN ALSACE
By HOLLAND


 New York, July 5.-(special.)-It was a strange coincidence that when 1t became known a few days ago that the supply of potash held by the American importers since the beginning of the war with Ger many is practically exhausted, there should also have come authoritative news from France that in Alsace there Is large deposit of potash, not yet deyel- oped, but equal in quality and probably amount to the deposit from which Ger many for 50 years drew her own and the worlds supply. If France recovers AL sace her government will at once under take such development as may make the world independent of Germany after the war for supplies of potash
 Germany. of course, has long known of these rich deposits of potash in Alsace. but her own potash resources have been so great, and the cost of development and the manufacture of it for commer- ciai use so slight, that the German gov ernment has never attempted any ex- ploitive of the potash deposits in Alsace. To the rest of the world, especially to the United States and England, this re- port comes as a gratifying although un- expected statement.
 To many of the growers of garden truck. especially in the large areas de- voted to that purpose on Long Island and also in the vicinity of New York and Philadelphia, the announcement that the stock of potash which was on hand when the war with German began is now prac- tically exhausted, will cause not little anxiety. So, also, next year the cotton planters and the tobacco growers, and also those who cultivate potatoes, will be greatly embarrassed unless some way Is found whereby fertilizers can be secured which will, in a measure at least, make good the exhaustion of our supply of potash.
 As soon as the war with Germany be- gan, tine American importers of potash, who happened to have large supplies on hand, realized that probably no more could be okta.ned from Germany until after the close of the war. Nowhere else in the world was there an available sup ply of potash, and In the United States hardly any was produced. Therefore, the importers of German potash decided that it was the wiser part for them to limit the sales, reducing gradually the amount sold to any one person, so that the SUD- ply could be maintained as long as pos sible They doled out the potash little by little, not needing the earnest appeals of the manufacturers of fertilizers, ex- cepting by granting their request in as limited way as possible. By methods of this kind, they have been able to keep on hand potash until the present time. when the announcement is made that there is practically no German potash to be secured in the United States
 MAKING THE BEST OF TT
 Business men who are looking into the future, and especially those in Great Britain, who are contemplating world trade conditions after the war is ended, have been persuaded for a long time that Germany was relying upon her potash supplies to pry open the doors of mar kets closed against her, believing that the world must have German potash or else industry and agriculture would be much impaired. It is this view that has irnpelled so many men of research and sc many manufacturers to study Amer ican resources of supplies of potash,