so THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



the demand for the product is actually unlimited, while the raw materi- 

 als cost almost nothing, limestone being the only expense, and no fuel 

 is required. Any place where water-power is cheap and limestone can 

 be obtained is suitable for a nitrate factory. With increasing supply 

 the price of nitrate will of course drop, which will be a boon to the 

 farmers. As there is unlimited water-power in Norway, and the in- 

 dustry is already established there, that land will have a great advantage 

 in future competition. 



As regards mineral resources, for a land of mountains Norway 

 seems to be exceedingly poor. At Kongsberg are silver mines which 

 have been worked for nearly three centuries, but the output is now com- 

 paratively small. They are more celebrated for the fact that the ore 

 consists largely of native silver and some of the specimens, especially 

 those taken out at earlier periods, are magnificent. The work in these 

 mines seems to be kept up at present, not so much from productiveness 

 or profit, as for the purpose of furnishing employment to the families 

 of those who have been brought up in the mines. 



In various parts of Norway copper is found and has been worked 

 from time to time, but the deposits have thus far proved poor and 

 limited in extent, and none of the mines have been commercial suc- 

 cesses. The same may be said of the few deposits of coal and iron. It 

 seems possible, however, that Norway may find an unlooked-for value 

 in some of her deposits of minerals of rare elements, for which at any 

 time there may be a great demand. Among her older rocks have al- 

 ready been discovered many minerals of great scientific interest, in- 

 cluding Broeggerite, the most radio-active of known minerals. Never- 

 theless, it is to her unrivaled water-power that Norway must primarily 

 look for her industrial development. 



