354 SELLING LATIN AMERICA 
i 
Brazil is the second largest diamond pro 
ducing country in the world. English com 
panies have $50,000,000 invested in these 
mines, which means that the diamonds ob 
tained therefrom pass through the hands of 
several Europeans before they ultimately 
reach the wearer in the United States. One 
State of Brazil—Minas Geraes—has for the 
past six years been exporting gold to Europe, 
sometimes as much as $2,000,000 a month, be 
cause Germans, Belgians and Englishmen own 
the mines. 
Chile contains the largest known deposits of 
“caliche”—that is, the earthy material from 
which nitrate is made. This article is exten 
sively used in the arts, in the production of 
gunpowder and other high explosives and also 
as a fertilizer. Last year she exported 50,781,- 
241 quintals, the world’s total consumption 
for the same period of time being 51,296,489 
quintals. I know of but one American house 
established in these fields. The business is 
controlled almost entirely by English and Ger 
man companies.