36 
W. C. EBAUGH 
both crude and refined salts are shipped, for purposes of com- 
parison all are calculated to a ‘^potash” or content. In 
1912 the exports from the German Empire and the imports 
into the United States were: 
EXPOETS FEOM 
GEKMANY 
IMPOETS INTO 
U. S. A. 
Crude potassium salts 
met. tons 
1,300,559 
286,528 
85,452 
48,540 
met. tons 
650,297 
190,775 
35,366 
14,172 
Potassium chloride 
Potassium sulphate 
Potassium magnesium sulphate 
1,721,079 
890,610* 
* Equivalent to 65 cars, 100,000 pounds capacity, six days a week throughout 
the year. 
This immense amount of potash was consumed very largely 
(about seven-eighths) in the fertilizer industry, and found its 
chief use in the south-eastern part of our country. Cotton, 
tobacco and cereals are the chief crops requiring potash 
fertilizers. 
WAR AND THE BLOCKADE 
With the catastrophe of war, the allied nations and the United 
States faced a desperate situation. Stocks of potash on hand 
were relatively small, and no other source than that in Germany 
was available. Even deposits — similar to those at Stasfurt — 
said to exist in Alsace-Lorraine, were in territory controlled by 
the Central Empires. The law of supply and demand was illus- 
trated at once — prices soared from the ordinary level (a little 
under $40 per ton) to unheard of heights, but even then potash 
could not be had (fig. 2). 
The technical press soon echoed Germany’s boast that a 
starving world would be brought begging on its knees for potash 
fertilizers, and let it be known that this was the one great eco- 
nomic weapon possessed by the enemy. America’s response was 
immediate. A search for potash, both on the part of govern- 
mental bureaus and of private parties, was begun, and the country 
