Although Chile is often compared to California, to which State it has some but not a close resemblance in length, partial dryness, earthquakes, and fruit, the specialty of Chile is not shared by California. Chile and nitrates are almost synonymous terms. A thought of one suggests the other. The greater part of the nitrate country earlier belonged to Peru, some also to Bolivia; and both countries still bewail their loss. MINING The =Nitrate Fields= we know are in the north, chiefly in the Provinces of Tarapacá, Antofagasta, and Atacama. If this desert land does not blossom as the rose, it produces the wherewithal to make other fields blossom, and the wealth to purchase the roses. The richest deposits are mainly along a stretch of 300 miles from Pisagua in Tarapacá, to Coquimbo. With an average width of 2¹⁄₂ miles, the fields are at a distance of from 10 to 80 miles back from the coast, and at a height of 2000-5000 feet. The deposits, which are not in continuous fields, are sometimes on the surface, but oftener overlaid with strata of earth several feet thick. The raw material called _caliche_ contains from 20 to 65 per cent nitrate of soda. After pickling in tanks 8-12 hours, the liquid, _caldo_, is run off, the sand and refuse dropping to the bottom. When ready for export the article carries 15-16 per cent nitrogen and 36 per cent sodium. Commercial nitrate is a white cheese-like substance, which is used in manufacturing the highest grade of gunpowder, also to produce nitric and sulphuric acid; but the bulk of it in ordinary times is employed as a fertilizer, doubling and tripling the harvest. Within recent years the demand and in consequence the production has greatly varied, the partial recovery in 1920 being soon followed by a depression. A by-product is a yellow liquid, which being chemically treated leaves a blue crystal, iodine, which costs as much an ounce as saltpetre per 100 pounds. Being worth $700-$800 a cask it is shipped in treasure vaults with bullion. The nitrate establishments called _oficinas_ provide good salaries, and the best possible quarters for their officials, and they are interesting to visit. As a mineral, the nitrate is distinguished from guano although believed by some to have the same origin. British companies have long been engaged in this industry. American interests have more recently acquired holdings. The Du Ponts have three properties covering 14,000 acres.