THE RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
i$oo 
NITRATE OF SODA FROM CHIU. 
Exhibit at the Paris Exposition. 
(Translated from Le Monde Illustrfi.) 
As the visitor enters the interior pas¬ 
sage-way of the Exposition, which runs 
along the Galerie des Machines by the 
side of the Avenue de La Motte-Pic- 
quet, his attention is attracted by a pa¬ 
vilion allotted to the exhibit of commer¬ 
cial fertilizers. A large part of this pa¬ 
vilion is devoted to the exhibit of the 
Permanent Nitrate Committee of Chil¬ 
ian Nitrate of Soda. When one has gone 
inside of the immense hall of this ex¬ 
hibit he is at once struck with the pure¬ 
ly theoretical, scientific and, above all, 
instructive character of the objects on 
exhibition. The pictures, charts, vege¬ 
tables, minerals and various documents 
offered to the inspection of visitors tes¬ 
tify to the fact that the Permanent Ni¬ 
trate Committee does not occupy itself 
alone with commercial operations, but 
that its aim is to make known the valu¬ 
able qualities of nitrate of soda, which 
is one of the most powerful chemical 
fertilizers used in intensive culture. 
Since the wonderful discovery of Geor¬ 
ges Ville, great things have been accom¬ 
plished, and the employment of chemical 
fertilizers has become general through¬ 
out the entire world. Three elements 
combine in forming a complete fertilizer 
and each part is more or less useful, ac¬ 
cording to the nature of the crop. These 
three elements are phosphoric acid (in 
the form of superphosphates of lime), 
potash, and nitrogen, particularly in the 
form of nitrates, or nitrate of soda. The 
last named chemical is considered the 
most important, as well for market gar¬ 
den plants and grain as for vineyards. 
Almost all nitrate of soda comes from 
Chili, where immense deposits of the 
precious mineral are found. The nitrate 
is found in an arid zone of Chilian terri¬ 
tory lying between the Andes and the 
Pacific Ocean. This region is complete¬ 
ly denuded of vegetation, and of fright¬ 
ful aridity, and sometimes several years 
elapse without a fall of rain to moisten 
the soil. This explains why this raw 
nitrate, called “caliche,” has been able 
to exist for centuries, close to the sur¬ 
face of the earth. The “caliche” extends 
itself to the surface of the soil, covered 
only by a bed of sand and common salt, 
in a stratified saliferous alluvium, which 
gives to the country the denuded aspect 
of a barren region enveloped in a mold 
of snow. The raw nitrate varies in 
thickness from several thumb lengths to 
10 feet, and is covered by a deposit at¬ 
taining perhaps the depth of 12 feet. The 
formation of these beds of nitrate is at¬ 
tributed to the decomposition and grad¬ 
ual nitrification of antediluvian vege¬ 
table and animal matter, cast up by the 
sea and left there by the retreating wa¬ 
ters of the floods. 
The quality of the caliche is very dif¬ 
ferent according to the depth of the beds 
which are explored. The average rich¬ 
ness of the raw material which has been 
worked is: For the best quality, from 
40 to 50 per cent of nitrate of soda, and 
upward. For the medium quality from 
30 to 40 per cent. For the inferior qual¬ 
ity, from 17 to 30 per cent. Most of the 
earthy impurities which are contained in 
caliche are insoluble in water, such as 
the debris of rocks, sand and clay. It 
also contains in variable quantities (10 
to 60 per cent) of sodium—cooking salt— 
followed in order by potassium, sulphate 
of sodium, sulphate of lime, magnesia 
salts, nitrate of potassium, a little iodide 
of potassium and sometimes salts of 
boric acid. 
The Province of Tarapaca is the cen¬ 
ter of operations of these mines of ni¬ 
trate of soda. Among the richest are 
those of Antofagasta and those of Ata¬ 
cama. The treatment is simple: The 
mining of the caliche is done under the 
clear sky by opening trenches; wagons 
or carts transport it to the factory 
where the mineral is crushed, then 
thrown into caldrons, where the nitrate 
of soda is dissolved at a high tempera¬ 
ture. When the solution arrives at the 
desired point of concentration, it is de¬ 
canted, to separate insoluble impurities 
and to crystallize the liquid by cooling 
and evaporation. 
The nitrate thus obtained is of great 
purity. This is its composition: 95 per 
cent nitrate of soda; 2 per cent common 
cooking salt; 6 per cent of sulphates; 1 
per cent of insoluble matter; 2.3 per cent 
of moisture. 
The Pavilion of the Permanent Nitrate 
Committee contains a whole series of 
documents which constitute a marvelous 
lesson. In the center of the vast hall 
arises a great pyramid formed of cubes, 
small in size at the summit, but with di¬ 
mensions rapidly increasing toward the 
bottom of the pile. These cubes repre¬ 
sent the production of nitrate of soda 
in Chili; here are the figures showing 
the production: 
In 1830 nitrate was employed only in 
chemical industries, and the production 
attained a volume of only 800 tons, in¬ 
creasing to 10,000 tons in 1840, and 22,- 
800 tons in 1850. In 1860 it attained to 
55,200 tons, then 136,287 tons in 1870, 
and 222,559 in 1880. It was at this junc¬ 
ture that the application of nitrate of 
soda to agriculture was begun, and the 
upward leap in the output is tremendous. 
The production in 1890 reached the fig¬ 
ure of 1,050,119 tons, and at last, in 1899, 
that of 1,380,000. Another piece of sta¬ 
tistics shows the commerce developed 
by the principal States trading with 
Chili, and gives, as actual importation, 
501,09o tons for Germany, 261,780 for 
France, 155,000 for the United States, 
153,570 for Belgium, 125,870 for England, 
89,830 for Holland and so forth. 
It is a curious fact that while the area 
cultivated in Germany is hardly equal 
to that devoted to the same crops in 
France, the consumption of nitrate of 
soda in Germany is almost double that 
of France. It is therefore a lesson which 
it will be well to remember, and which 
proves that in the matter of intensive 
agriculture, we are not as progressive 
as our powerful neighbor. The central 
showcase of the exhibit contains differ¬ 
ent specimens of nitrate of soda, such as 
those found in commerce and numerous 
specimens of raw nitrate or caliche from 
which is extracted the nitrate of soda. 
The visitor can see the blocks of the 
precious mineral in all colors—the var¬ 
iety in coloring being caused by foreign 
substances mixed in the nitrate. 
Equally instructive are the great num¬ 
bers of pamphlets showing the results of 
competitions and of fields of demonstra¬ 
tion which have been established in 15 
departments for the reward of agricul¬ 
turists which have obtained the best re- 
641 
suits in the uses of mineral fertilizers, 
and especiall. of nitrate of soda. A por¬ 
tion of these pamphlets are published in 
foreign languages—English, German, 
Russian, Italian and Spanish. To con¬ 
clude, the exhibit of nitrate of soda is 
sure to attract all those who are inter¬ 
ested in the progress of our agriculture, 
and of numerous landlords and farmers 
who have already come considerable dis¬ 
tances to Study it. ANDRE BORIE. 
The Apple-Tree Borer. 
O. 8., Factoryville, Pa.—In the Spring of 
1897 I set 50 apple trees. The first two years 
I kept the borers out by watching closely, 
and by wrapping with cloth. Last Spring 
1 read of two remedies for keeping out the 
pests, so to make a sure tiling of it 1 ap¬ 
plied them both, and rested comfortably all 
Summer, as to the question of borers. 
About August 20 I commenced to examine 
my trees, and find them nearly, if not 
quite, ruined with from six to 10 worms in 
each tree. Some are about girdled, some 
two-thirds, some one-half, and some with 
about one-fourth inch of good wood left. 
Can I save the trees, or will they only live 
at a poor dying rate? They have made a 
fine growth this season. I am advised by 
a neighbor to cut wire cloth in strips and 
wrap the trees in the Spring. Is this prac¬ 
tical? These hot days in August and Sep¬ 
tember are more eggs liable to be deposited 
in the tree? 
Ans.—T he insect which the trees were 
supposed to be defended against was 
probably the Round-headed apple-tree 
borer, known to science as Saperda Can¬ 
dida. It is the common pest that does 
great damage by boring and eating ap¬ 
ple and quince trees just under the 
ground, and sometimes for a foot or 
more above it. The washes which are 
often recommended for keeping them 
out are usually a delusion to the grower, 
but by no means a snare to the borers. 
There may be some that are effectual, 
but they are also usually likely to be ef¬ 
fectual in killing the trees. We know 
that some of them are death to trees. 
The knife is what I have found to be a 
sure and cheap remedy. To examine the 
base of each tree takes only a short 
time. Mounding up the earth about the 
trees in Spring is a decided advantage, 
and is easily done. This causes the 
beetles to deposit their eggs so high that 
the borers are readily found. Wire cioth 
is not as sure or as cheap a material for 
preventing the laying of the eggs by the 
beetle as thick paper or cloth tied about 
the base of the trees and extending a lit¬ 
tle below the surface of the ground. 
Sometimes the eggs are laid through the 
wii’e screen where it touches the bark. 
There must also be something stuffed in 
the crack between the top of the screen 
and the tree, or the beetles will get in 
there. It will soon rust at the bottom 
and require renewal. The eggs are laid 
in the early part of the Summer, and hot 
weather in late Summer is nothing to 
do with the matter. The trees that are 
damaged might be helped in healing 
over by bridge grafting next Spring. I 
have never tried it at this time of year, 
but it might be done successfully at any 
time before growth stops. 
H. E. VAN DEMAN. 
ARMSTRONG <Se uicKELVY 
Pittsburgh. 
BEYMER-BAUMAN 
Pittsburgh. 
DAVIS -CHAMBERS 
Pittsburgh. 
FAHNESTOCK 
Pittsburgh. 
ANCHOR ) 
> Cincinnati. 
ECKSTEIN ) 
New York. 
| Chi' 
ATLANTIC 
BRADLEY 
BROOKLYN 
JEWETT 
ULSTER 
UNION 
SOUTHERN 
SHIPMAN 
COLLIER 
MISSOURI 
RED SEAL 
SOUTHERN 
JOHN T. LEWIS A BROS CO 
Philadelphia. 
MORLEY 
Cleveland. 
SALEM 
Salem, Mass. 
CORNELL 
Buffalo. 
KENTUCKY 
Louisville. 
Chicago. 
>St. Louis. 
HEN you see the paint cracking^ 
peeling or falling off the house 
in shreds, you may be sure 
it was not painted with Pure 
White Lead, but with some mixture of Zinc, 
Barytes, etc. 
Pure White Lead unites with Linseed 
oil to form an elastic coating that never cracks 
nor peels. It is the good, old-fashioned 
paint that lasts. To be sure of getting 
Pure White Lead, see that the package 
bears one of the brands named in margin. 
For colors use National Lead Company's Pure White 
fnrP Lead Tinting Colors. Any shade desired i3 readily 
B ■■■" obtained. Pamphlet giving full information and show, 
ing samples of Colors, also pamphlet entitled “ Uncle Sam’s Ex. 
perience With Paints ” forwarded upon application. 
National Lead Co ., ioo William Street , New York. 
EXHIBIT OF CHILIAN NITRATE OF SODA AT PARIS EXPOSITION. Fig. 235. 
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