' THE 

 POPULAR SCIENCE 

 MONTHLY. 



SEPTEMBER, 1913 

 THE NITRATE FIELDS OF CHILE 



Br Dr. WALTER S. TOWER 



DEPARTMENT OF GEOGUAPHY, UNIVERSITY OX' CHICAGO 



THE importance of Chilean nitrate depends on a curious whim of na- 

 ture. Xitrogen is needed by all plants and animals, and though 

 the atmosphere is nearl}' four-fifths nitrogen, few plants and no animals 

 can draw directly on that universal supply. Animals secure their nitro- 

 gen through the medium of plants, and most plants must get it from the 

 soil. Some cultivated crops rapidly use up the soil nitrogen and in such 

 cases the easiest way to maintain productivity is by applying fertilizers. 

 Nitrogenous fertilizers once vrere made largely from guano, fish scrap, 

 slaughter-house refuse, etc., but their manufacture now depends mainly 

 on natviral nitrates. These occur in many parts of the world, but they 

 have been found in large amounts only in the northern provinces of 

 Chile. * 



For Chile itself no other thing has been more important than nitrate 

 in affecting national progress. By some, nitrate has been regarded as a 

 curse; by others, as a national blessing; and spirited arguments over its 

 political aspects may be heard in- all parts of Chile, for the question is 

 one of those which time does not settle. Nitrate has led to costly wars 

 which established the prestige of Chile as the leading nation on the west 

 coast of South America. It has lured tens of thousands of people into 

 dreary deserts, and caused busy ports to develop where harbors are such 

 only in name. It has created a great commerce for the country, made 

 fortunes for the people, and provided great revenues for the' nation to 

 spend for army, navy and the general welfare. But along with these 

 things, it has turned men and money from more stable forms of industry, 

 and laid the country open to criticism, perhaps unjustly, for its ex- 

 travagance. 



Chile saltpeter, nitrate, or salitrc as it is called, is when pure a glis- 



VOL LXXXIII — 15. 



