The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-08-18
SCIENCE MAKES
 MORE FERTILIZER.
By HOLLAND

New Yodk. August 1S.-(Specia1. )-In a brief statement made a few days ago by Samuel T. Morgan, president of the vlr. ginia Carolina Chemical company, he a;- luded to the success obtained by Ameri- can science and industry in providing fertilizing material which goes far to
 make good the cessation of imports ol potash from Germany. President Nor gan's company, which is the largest oi it's kind in the world, and which last year did a business considera blysin ex. cess of $,0e ,00c, 600, manufactured among other products 100000 tons of fertilizer This output served greatly to relieve the embarrassment of the farmers, who were fearful lest the loss of German potash
 would greatly impair their harvests. President Morgan intimated that in tho
 United States there is abundance of raw material which under proper treatment
 can be converted into fertilizers and pre- sumably had in mind the growth of the fertilizing industry so that, like the dye
 industry, after the war is ended the
 United States will be no longer com pelled to rely upon Germany for its fer tilizing material. Recently statement has been published which confirms a remark attributed to the Kaiser at the beginning of the war. He is reported
 
 is dependent Upon German potash tor fertilizing material, this country would hesitate long before joining the all,ss. since if that were to be done we could get no potash.
 Two years at least before Congress de- clared war upon Germany, imports Of potash from Germany ceased. The deal CTS who had secured a large supply shortly before the war "Hooverized" it. so to speak, doling it out in small quan- ties until at last it was exhausted. Never theless in the year 1915 the United States harvested a billion bushels of whea&, and the, cotton planters in that year aid later secured excellent crops of cotton
 As soon as it was known that we were to be deprived of German potash men of science, some of whom were employed by private capital and some by the gov ernment, began investigation with In- tent to discover whether potash in cruls form coutd be found to commercial aa- vantage in the United States. They dem- onstrated that seaweed off the Pacific coast could be made to yield consider able percentage of potash, although the expense entailed in extracting it was found to be an objection. They reported that great potash deposits were to be found in ono of the lakes of California.
 They went into Utah and discovered that mountain west of Salt Lake City contained a mineral which would yield a considerable percentage of potash. They also made it known that in the fe1dspar deposits ot the United States-a consider able percentage of potash existed Ali these discoveries, however, were partially negatived, So to speak. by reason of the fact that the cost of extracting the pot ash, and, in the case of feldspar, the diff faculties of transportation, were so grea. as to cause fl to be doubted whether even with these raw resources potash could be secured to commercial advantage. Presi- dent Morgan appears to be of the opinion that the American farmers have placed. perhaps. too great faith in potash as the chief element in fertlizing material seems tu be his Opinions as it was the, opinion of those who undertook to solve the dyestuff problem. that we have raw in the UAited States which If. properly utilized will provide the farmers with all the fertilizing material that IS needed.
 Dr. Charles Catlett, who was formerly of the United States geological survey "a aboratory, and who is esteemed one of he leading chemists of the United States. 'aid this morning that the country has lone we'll enough in the production-of potash to meet the more pressing needs tt the prevailing high market price. Un- ioubtedly good deal more is to be done, especially because the question of pot lsh is to play very important part n he field of international politics. Dr -atlett has received information which shows him that the stocks of 200 potash | in Germany are quoted at ~ ger cent moro than they were before the var and this in spite of the fact tnat hey have been accommodating enormous amounts of potash and have shipped lardly any out of Germany pr. Causts aid .'If the various interviews which | ire now being published are accurate. he Kaiser continues to emphasize the l of the rest of the world upon .ssert that Germany when dictatinG the erms q peace will see to 1t that the est Of the world pay considerable DOT lon of the expense of the war, because lther counties will be compelled to buy 3ermAu potash..' The German Emperor 1Ay be mistaken In thts view, as ne VI bean n many othera Tho menz oS