Nitrate of Soda is found mixed with Food for 



earth in the arid section of northern Chili. ^^^""^ '* '^ P^^^*^ 

 It is extracted bv means of hot water, in ouna. 5^ 



which Nitrate is soluble. The enormous explosive industry of 

 this country could not be conducted without -,, ,y 

 Nitrate oi Soda, and glass works are 

 dependent upon it. In fact, glass works and powder works 

 usuallv have Nitrate on hand. 



Nitrate of Soda has a special bearing y p . . 



on the progress ot modern agriculture: in • ■», j 



^ . . ^ . . in Modern 



the first place it is the most nutritious form » • t. 



c -^y- ^ • I r 1 Agriculture, 



or Nitrogenous or ammoniate plant food, 



and secondly it is a very important factor in the manufacture 

 of sulphuric acid and acid phosphate. While the action of 

 micro-organisms zvith certain crops [legume) combines and 

 makes effective use of the inert Nitrogen of the atmosphere, 

 such action is far too slow and uncertain for all the require- 

 ments of modern agriculture. The rapid exhaustion of 

 combined Nitrogen has several times been noticed by emi- 

 nent scientific men, with reference to food famine, because 

 of a lack of the needful Nitrogenous plant food. It has 

 been estimated under the present methods .^jj * f i m fv. ^ 



croppmg; the rich lands ot our Western , t^- 



1 - . DV our x^ioneer 



States, that for every pound of Nitrogen -,- 



- r to rarmers. 



actually used to make a wheat crop, four 

 to five pounds are utterly wasted. In other words, our 

 pioneer agriculture has proceeded as though Fertility Capital 

 could be drawn upon forever. 



This injudicious waste is already reducing the yield of 

 many of the best lands, rendering the use of loo pounds of 

 Nitrate per acre both profitable and necessary. 

 The agricultural value of Nitrate of Soda 

 has had the attention of the foremost agri- Eminent Scien- 

 cultural and scientific specialists of the tists the World 

 world, including such men as Dr. Paul Over Well Ac- 

 Wagner and Professor Maercker, of Ger- q^amted with the 

 many; Lawes and Gilbert, Sir William Great Value of 

 Crookes, Dr. Dyer and Dr. Voelcker, in titrate. 

 England; Professors Erandeau, Cassarini, Migneaux, and 

 Cadoret, in France; Professors Bernardo, Giner and Alino, in 

 Spain; and Drs. Voorhees, Wheeler, Kilgore, Brooks, Dug- 

 gar, Stubbs, Ross, Patterson, Hilgard and Shaw, in America. 



