For a long time potash production was essentially a German monopoly. The principal deposits are in the vicinity of Stassfurt in north central Germany (about the Harz Mountains). Stassfurt salts are undoubtedly ample to supply the world's needs of potash for an indefinite future. However, other deposits, discovered in the Rhine Valley in Alsace in 1904, have been proved to be of great extent; and though the production has hitherto been limited by restrictions imposed by the German Government, it has nevertheless become considerable.1 The grade (18 per cent K2O) is superior to the general run of material taken from the main German deposits, and the deposits have a regularity of structure and uniformity of material favorable to cheaper mining and refining than obtains in the Stassfurt deposits.
Other countries have also developed supplies of potash, some of which will probably continue to produce even in competition with the deposits of recognized importance referred to above. Noteworthy among the newer developments are those in Spain.2 These have not yet produced on any large scale, but their future production may be considerable. Less important deposits are known in Galicia, Tunis, Russia, and eastern Abyssinia, and the nitrate deposits of Chile contain a small percentage of potash which is being recovered in some of the operations.
Prior to the war the United States obtained its potash from Germany. The German potash industry was well organized and protected by the German Government, which made every effort to maintain a world monopoly. During the war the potash exports from Germany were cut off, excepting exports to the neutrals immediately adjoining German territory. The result in the United States was that the price of potash rose so far as to greatly diminish its use as fertilizer.
The consequent efforts to increase potash production in the United States met with considerable success, but the maximum production attained was