Chile Today and Tomorrow

But of all Chilean offerings, none has been of more importance to the world, apart
from the potato, than that strange naturally produced chemical of the northern
rainless regions, nitrate of soda. Nitrate has brought millions of exhausted or
semi-productive acres into rich fertility, employs a hundred thousand people in its
production and transport, and is today a necessity of the farmer. Artificial
production is unlikely to rival the natural deposits in the markets of the world,
owing to the cost ...