POTASH………what is it? It is a mineral (a type of salt) that is mined to make fertilizer. Germany had the largest Potash deposits in the world in the 19th and early 20th century. They controlled all of the worlds supply.
With this monopoly, they also controlled the crop production of other nations by regulating it’s export. The German Empire also controlled many of their other natural resources, and placed them under the regulation of a “Syndicate”. Controlling the Potash Industry was the Kali-Syndikat G. m. b. H., based in Berlin.
At the outbreak of War in 1914, the Central Powers possessed the worlds supply of Potash. There was no known substitutes for the chemical at the time. It would be years before a new source would be discovered which could provide the millions of tons per year that the US needed for fertilizer. Consequently, the farmers suffered from this embargo. They saw their crop production decrease for several years while the war raged on in Europe. The price of Potash in the US jumped from $40 to $400 per ton, and that resulted in the cost of food to rise. This additional cost was due to either the increase in the price of fertilizer, or the losses in crop yield.
In the early 20th century, the United States had the lowest production of wheat per acre among the leading wheat producers of the world. During the production year of 1913, Germany produced 35 bushels of wheat per acre along with Belgium. The UK yielded 32 and France 20. The US only produced 15 bushels per acre, less than ONE HALF that of Germany. Germany also grew twice the amount of potatoes per acre than the US, with 223 bushels per acre to the United States 113 bushels.
All of this must have enraged the American farmer, many of whom were still using mule drawn plows. They worked night and day make enough money to feed their families, and pay their bills. I am sure that this, along with Germany’s aggression towards the US did not fair well with any American farmer.
Why are we talking about Potash and Farmers? The reason is to tell you about one of our newest artifacts that was found at a site located on the grounds of Camp Zachary Taylor. It is quite an amazing item. It appears to be a “Token“, that has been cast in lead, and is slightly smaller than a US Quarter.
On one face it reads “Kali-Syndikat” and below that is “G.m.b.H.” On the reverse side is “BERLIN” with two stars, one above and one below the inscription.
We do not know how the token made it’s way back to Louisville, Ky. We can only assume that it may have been picked up by a Doyboy while in Germany, and brought it back as a souvenir. Maybe it was something to remind him that the Germans can’t mess with the American farmers.
I have contacted several authorities on tokens, some in Europe. None of them have ever seen this token before, and could not tell me anything about it. I will keep looking into it and try to find out more about it. If I do, I will update this page with any more information that comes to light.
Ken M
2 responses so far ↓
1 romeo-1 // Apr 4, 2009 at 6:10 pm
It is not a token…it is a lead seal. This would have been affixed to a bag of fertilizer or potash from Germany. I have found four of these lead seals recently.
2 admin // Apr 5, 2009 at 9:02 am
romeo-1,
Thank you for the info!. I have been told that it may be seal by others also, but no one can confirm that it is. Can you tell me more about the one’s that you found, where you found them and how you happened to come across them. Thanks for your input.
Ken Maguire
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