T H E J O U R N A L O F I N D r S T R I A L A N D ENGIiVEERIiVG C H E M I S T R Y
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portunity for American chemists as presents itself a t t h e present time. The fluctuations in the market during the last month have been greater than ever known before, and we are very much in the position described by Mr. Livermore-that of people willing t o buy what medicines they can get. You may be interested in a few items which I have jotted down. The normal price of benzoic acid is 2 2 cents per lb.; the price reached $1.25 and went u p t o $1.50. Carbolic acid which cost us 14 cents per lb., we could have replaced at 7l/2 cents per lb. and we figured a loss of $20 a drum; we sold most of i t for 40 t o 50 cents per lb. Citric acid which was sold freely a t 54 cents (at which we make an average profit of a cent a pound) went as high as $1.35 per lb. One of the large manufacturers came into our store and wanted five kegs of citric acid. We told him the price would be $1.25. Then he wanted t o know how much we would charge him for 5 kegs more. We told him $1.30. Then he wanted t o know how much we would charge him for 5 kegs more and we told him $1.35. For 5 kegs more, he inquired, and we told him $1.40. “Well,” he said, “I guess we had better wait a little while and see what is doing.” Oxalic acid went from 7l/4 t o 2 2 cents, salicylic acid from 25 cents t o $1.25, tartaric acid from 30 t o 75 cents, arsenic from z3/4 t o 6, nitrate of barium from 5 t o 15, calomel from 60 t o 90, camphor from 45 cents t o $1.00, carbon tetrachloride from 7 t o 15 cents, cream of tartar from 2S3/4 t o 60, Epsom salts from I to 3, chlorate of potash from 7 t / 2 t o 25, potassium permanganate from 9 t o 60, saltpeter from 4l/2 t o 12, quicksilver from $36 t o $100 and back t o $55, and oxide of zinc from 7l/2 to 25 cents. So I might go on mentioning many others. When I was in London the last of August I saw a n order from the U. S. for Hydroquinone a t $3.00 a pound, the price of which today is five time: that. Such extreme prices, however, cannot be mainMAY 16
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Less than one-twentieth of our pig-iron is produced from imported ores. Of this about $4,000,000 worth comes from Cuba and half as much from Sweden. The war, therefore, can produce no shortage in ore; it creates almost no demand for iron; and, on the other hand, depresses business in general t o such a n extent t h a t the demand for iron has grown less and less. The producers are unwilling t o reduce the price t o a figure lower than $14 per ton, the price a t which it has been held for many months, and as the demand decreases, prefer t o reduce the supply by blowing out their furnaces. Seven furnaces were p u t out of operation during September. About half the copper produced in this country is exported; those countries now at war usually take most of our export. The producers have been curtailing the output, b u t the reduction has not reached the point of holding up the price which ~ can hardly go much lower t h a n i t is a t present, I I ~ , ’ cents. A lower price would close many mines and this would so check prcduction t h a t the price would gradually go up again. Our exports and imports of lead are about equally balanced. The imports come chiefly from Mexico, South America, and Canada. The war does not interfere with the imports and there is therefore a tendency towards t h e accumulation of lead, which has lowered the price from 3.9 cents, which i t has maintained for many months, t o 3.5 cents. A considerable quantity of our nickel is derived from blister copper, b u t our chief supply comes from Canadian ores. About half the production is usually exported and the exports are no doubt seriously disturbed, b u t t h e International Nickel Company, having a monopoly, will probably maintain the price a t 40 t o 45 cents, which has held for a long time. Of the metallic products which have risen in price, the most conspicuous is ferro-manganese. The price of ferro-manganese
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T H E J O C R N A L OF I A J D U S T R I A L A N D E N G I N E E R I N G C H E M I S T R Y
The price of ferro-manganese dropped in four weeks from $140 to $80, and was down last week t o $68 per ton. The war has created a demand for special forms of steel. England, I believe, has ordered 125,000 tons of sheet bars, the sheets to be used for winter barracks. The wire mills are running a t 80 per cent capacity t o supply barb wire for the foreign demand, and Russia, I understand, has bought all the wire cutters that could be found on the market in this country. Our importation of tin amounts to more than $50,000,000 worth annually. The ore comes chiefly from the Malay States and Bolivia and the metal is reduced from its ores abroad. The fear of interruption of the supply put up the price from 31 cents to 65 cents per lb., but it gradually fell back to the former price of 31 cents when confidence was restored in England’s supremacy a t sea. A long war should lead to the reduction of the ore in this country, especially the ores from Bolivia. The price of zinc advanced in three weeks from 5 cents to 6l/4 cents per lb., but has since declined t o 4.9 cents. Because Belgium and Germany are large producers of zinc, a war involving those countries would naturally create a fear of scarcity of that metal. The United States, however, produces about as much as i t consumes, and there is, therefore, no cause for alarm here. England’s excess consumption over her production has been about equaled by Belgium’s excess production over her consumption. It is probable that, if the war continues long, England will turn t o us for zinc. About one-third of the antimonial lead produced in this country comes in crude form from other countries. In addition to this, considerable quantities of type metal are imported. Under these conditions, war would naturally put up the price. The same is true of platinum and bismuth, which are scarcely produced in this country a t all. One-eighth of the aluminum ore treated in this country is imported, and about one-fifteenth of the metal produced is exported. ‘We, therefore, consume a little more aluminum than our mines produce. The rise in price f r q n about 18 cents to a
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little more than 20 cents per lb. indicates that there was fear of a slight shortage, but the price has recently fallen back to 18.5 cents. We produce upwards of $I,OOO,OOO worth of quicksilver, but to supply the demand for home consumption our imports have to exceed our exports by about $30,000 worth. The war created a demand for fulminate which put the price up from $36 to $100 per flask of 75 lbs., but, since the first scare has subsided, it has dropped again to about $60 a flask. If the war is short, the metal industries should soon become normal again. If it is long, there will probably be still further curtailment in the production of iron and of steel, except in certain forms, and of copper and lead, but I think further declines in the prices will be small. In addition, if war continues we should expect an increase in the production of ferroalloys and tin in this country. DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGY HARVARD UNIVERSITY, CAMBRIDGE
DISCUSSION By H. J. WHEELER
I n the course of Mr. Bowker’s remarks, he mentioned the fact that ‘‘Little, if any, potash is used in the great Middle West where the cereals are grown.” I n order to emphasize more fully the significance of this point I should call attention to the fact that it is but rarely that more than from 150 t o 300 lbs. of fertilizer are used to the acre in the Middle West and Southwest for wheat and corn crops. The amount of potash in these goods usually ranges from I to 4 per cent, although z per cent would probably represent fully the average for those sections. This would mean t h a t from 3 to IZ lbs. of potash is the usual amount applied to the acre, while the average application would probably be about 6 lbs. It must be evident, therefore, that the soils of that section of the country contain enough available potash to produce quite
