ANIMAL INDUSTRIES IN AGRICULTURE 145 



A study of the above figures makes it clear at once that there 

 was a rapid advance in the output of all the items in the short 

 period under review. Further, the by-products of industry, such 

 as sulphate of ammonia and basic slag, already form an important 

 part of the total, while those derived from sources liable to ex- 

 haustion, such as nitrate of soda and guano, constitute a much 

 smaller fraction. The deposits of rock phosphates are known to 

 be very large and many others exist besides those already worked. 1 

 There is not much doubt that the progress of industry will lead to 

 a greatly increased production of fertilisers, independently of 

 limited natural deposits, hitherto relied upon to a greater extent. 

 Even potash deposits are not so limited in geographical distribution 

 as formerly thought. 2 



Moreover, quite recently discoveries have been made which go 

 far towards rendering the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen com- 

 mercially possible. Prior to the year 1014 small quantities of 

 nitrate of lime were produced in this way, chiefly in Norway, but 

 since that year enormous strides have been made, particularly, it 

 is stated, in Germany, in the production of artificial nitrates. 3 

 It is probable also that in the future very much greater quantities 

 of nitrogen constituents will be recovered from the coal consumed 

 in the leading industrial countries. 



The general conclusion concerning the supplies of fertilisers 

 seems to be that not only is there no danger of a shortage in the 

 future, but that large increases are to be expected, though not 

 perhaps for some years after the close of the European War. Any 

 marked increase in the use of fertilisers will undoubtedly benefit 

 animal industries and the supplies of animal products, because in 

 the scramble for the use of land between animals and cereals the 

 latter are likely to have their needs satisfied first. Any rise in 

 productivity following upon a more liberal and a wider use of 

 fertilisers will tend to reduce the pressure upon the areas of agri- 



1 There are extensive deposits of rock phosphates in Northern Africa and 

 in the United States now under contribution, in addition to others elsewhere 

 not yet being worked. The easily accessible deposits of Florida are said to 

 be practically inexhaustible, and are therefore likely to yield a rapidly in- 

 creasing output. U.S. Dept. Agric., Bureau of Soils, Bulletin 76, p. 22. 



2 In addition to the deposits of potash salts in central Germany and in 

 Upper Alsace, deposits of potash-bearing minerals are known to exist in Cata- 

 lonia in Spain, at Searle's Lake in California, in India, and in Australia. In 

 the two latter countries, unfortunately, the potash occurs in the form of 

 insoluble compounds. 



8 Before the outbreak of the war Norway was the chief producer of synthetic 

 nitrates, its exports in 1913 amounting to about 70,000 tons. The progress 

 made in Germany in the manufacture of these products is shown by the fact 

 that, whereas in 1914 but 60,000 tons of synthetic sulphate of ammonia 

 were produced, by 1917 the estimated output of these products was 600,000 

 tons in addition to nearly 400,000 tons of cyanide. It is interesting to observe 

 that steps are also being taken to produce synthetic nitrates in Great Britain 

 and in the United States. When hostilities cease enormous quantities of 

 these products, now used mainly for war purposes, will be available for agri- 

 culture. 



