NOTES ON NORWEGIAN INDUSTRY 



45 



Fig. 9. Hitterdal-kykke. This church, which is built of wood, has stood in this 

 smiling valley for neai-ly 700 years. Note that the bell tower is across the road from 

 the church. 



construction which will furnish sulfuric acid as a by-product. In many 

 cases it has proved simpler to use the cyanamid itself directly as a fer- 

 tilizer, letting the moisture of the soil convert it into ammonia as 

 needed. On many soils the nitrogen of the cyanamid is found to be 

 equally efficient with that of ammonia or of nitrate, while on other 

 soils it has less value. Its use has, however, become established and we 

 may look for the installation of cyanamid plants in many places where 

 water-power is cheap. A plant on the Canadian side at ISTiagara Palls 

 is already in successful operation. 



A word regarding the power of the Odda plant may not be amiss, as 

 it illustrates the resources of Norway in this line. The power plant is 

 at Tyssa, some four miles distant from the cyanamid works. The water 

 is brought down to the dynamos in two pipes of rolled steel 1^ inches 

 thick and about two meters in diameter, with a fall of 1,450 feet, de- 

 veloping 22,000 horse-power for the cyanamid and carbid works. This 

 is shortly to l:)e increased by raising the level of the water supply, and it 

 is said that there will be a development of 125,000 horse-power. The 

 current is transmitted from the power house at 11,400 volts and is 

 stepped down to 75 volts for th^ cyanamid manufacture and to 400 

 volts for the liquid air plant. 



Another, and even more important effort to solve the problem of 

 manufacturing nitrogen fertilizer from the atmosphere has been the at- 

 tempt to convert the nitrogen of the air into saltpeter. It has long 

 been known that when an electric discharge is passed through air, the 



