SOURCES OF POTASH 



43 



Potash salts produced in the United States, 1850 to 1905 l (Phalen, U.S. Geol. 



Survey.) 



1 Munroe, C. E., Bull. 92, Census of Manufactures, Bur. Census, 1905, p. 38. 



2 Includes establishments engaged primarily in the manufacture of other 

 products. 



There was a time when the United States produced a large part, 

 if not all, of the potash it consumed. The burning of wood and the 

 lixiviation of the resulting ash to extract the potash, though of minor 

 importance so far as the monetary value of the product is concerned, 

 is one of the oldest of the purely chemical industries in this country. 

 Cognizance was taken of it in the census reports as early as 1850, so 

 that data are available for comparing the condition of the industry for 

 each decade since that year. The above table gives the quantity and 

 value of potash produced in the United States from 1850 to 1905. 



Potash salts are used extensively in the United States. They are 

 essential to numerous industries that are vitally connected with the 

 welfare of the American people the most notable being the ferti- 

 lizer industry. They are used also in the manufacture of glass, in 

 certain kinds of soap, in some explosive powders, and in the chemical 

 industries, including the manufacture of alum, cyanides, bleaching 

 powders, dyestuffs, and other chemicals. (Phalen.) 



Importation of potash salts 



The potash industry has not been revived in the United States thus 

 far, and the great bulk of the potash salts now used are imported. The 

 following table (by Phalen) shows the magnitude of the importation of 

 potash salts for the years 1900, 1905, and 1910: 



