Bombs and Fertilizer
With steam-powered ocean shipping, it became economical to ship organic fertilizers from South America, namely, the nitrate deposits from bird and bat guano off the coasts of Peru and Chile. Railroads allowed the commercial opening of new agricultural regions, such as the Argentine Pampas, with much of the new production destined for transoceanic e
... See moreJeffrey D. Sachs • The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions
Nitrogen is a limiting nutrient in many soils, meaning that it is often in short supply and may be the first nutrient to limit a plant’s growth. And since it is water soluble, nitrogen can easily be leached out of soil
Toby Hemenway • The Permaculture Promise: What Permaculture Is and How It Can Help Us Reverse Climate Change, Build a More Resilient Future on Earth, and Revitalize Our Communities
Underscoring the fact that dynamite was seen as an exciting new invention, rather than as a dangerous tool to be cautiously used or controlled, is that innovation with dynamite as a weapon was driven not by military organizations, but from below.