The rapid growth of the industry may noted by comparing with the above figures those of the special census of 1914, as follows: In that year there were 2,461 establishments em ploying $722,988,871- capital. Officers, firm members and clerks numbered 24,670, whose salaries aggregated $36,631,960. Employees numbered 86,788, whose wages amounted to $53, 021,371. The cost of raw materials used amounted to $340,216,702 and the value of the product was $547,801,957— the value added by manufacture being $207,585,235.
Among all the strictly chemical products the most important is and has long been acid, owing to the supremacy which it main tains over all other known chemicals in the promotion of the great manufacturing interests. A comparison of the quantities produced dur ing the several census years, therefore, as well as a comparison showing the reduction of prices that has obtained, will give the reader a very good general idea of the marvelous ad vancement that has been made in the manufac ture of chemicals in the United States.
Among the allied industries the refining of petroleum takes first rank in value of output, reaching nearly $400,000,000; with the fertilizer industry second, with products valued at over $168,000,000. The latter figures are particularly interesting because, if for no other reason, they indicate quite clearly the growth and develop ment of the agricultural interests of the coun try.
Of course, the history of the farming indus try in the past has been a record of gross igno rance and prodigal wastefulness, especially in the matter of fertilization. Through carelessness, or, perhaps more often, through want of thorough knowledge of his trade, the American farmer has permitted vast quantities of valu able manurial materials to soak into ground where they could be no use, or to find their way to the sea. In the old days, instead of devising some method of preventing such waste in the future, the agriculturist continued his primitive methods, until, at last, the manufac turer of artificial fertilizers came to his assist ance, and, by the aid of chemicals and mechani cal devices, converted worthless matter into valuable merchandise.
To obtain a general idea of the use to which this product of the chemical arts is put by the farmers of the United States it is only necessary to make a brief computation. Thus, for ex
ample, we may say that 300 pounds of ferti lizers are used to an acre of land; and, as the total output of the country aggregated 33,654, 000,000 pounds, It is easy to see that it would require no less than 112,200,000 acres to ex haust such a product. As the figures of the Agricultural Department now show that large areas of this country are already becoming tin profitable as farming lands unless artificial fer to be used to enrich them, it is not surprising that great manufactories for the making of such materials should have been established in so many sections of the country, and that the output of fertilizers in 1914 should be five times that of 1900.
As classified by the census bureau, the chemi cal industry has two grand divisions: The gen eral chemical industry, and the allied industries — those in which the processes of manufacture are essentially chemical. The latter group in cludes (1) manufacture of, dyestuffs and tan ning extracts; (2) manufacture of essential oils; (3) manufacture of explosives; (4) the fertilizer industry; (5) paint and varnish in dustry; (6) petroleum refining; (7) manufac ture of soaps; (8) wood distillation. The gen eral chemical industry covers the manufacture of strictly chemical substances, and is subdi vided according to products, as follows: Acids, comprising chiefly sulphuric, nitric and mixed acids, and other acids used largely in commercial quantities for manufacturing purposes. In 1914 there were 194 establish ments making sulphuric acid. Their combined output of acids for sale reached a value of $15,395,133. At least as much more was made and used in the plants making it, and did not pass directly into commerce. The output of 50 degree (Batune) acid was 1,677,649 tons (of 2,000 pounds), of which 451,121 tons were sold for $2,709,350; of 60-degree acid, 795,489 tons, of which 545,562 tons were sold for $3754,866; of 66-degree acid, 828,466 tons, of which 732, 186 tons were sold for $8,042,422; and of oleum or fuming acid 77,758 tons, of which 62,354 tons were sold for $888,495. The production of 50-degree acid exceeded in quantity that of 1909 by only 2.1 per cent, but the output of 60 degree acid was 320 per cent, and of the 66 &wee acid 49.9 per cent greater than that of 1909.