THE XITEOGEX I'KOBI.KM. 



109 



ou imported uitrate or nitric acid, as at present, except for the 

 works mentioned above^ where the ammonia recovered would 

 require an additional and costly plant to oxidise it to nitric 

 acid. 



The other and h\ tar greater source of nitrogen com- 

 pounds is as yet untouched, but the success which has attended 

 the installation of synthetic nitrogen processes dependent on 

 cheap electric power naturally turns our thoughts to the only 

 source of water power in this country of any magnitude — the 

 beautiful Victoria Falls. The most reliable data concerning 

 this which I have been able to obtain are those given by the 

 recent survey undertaken by the Ehodesian Munitions 

 Committee, which, I believe, confirms the estimate of 

 500.000 available B.H.P. formerly made. That such an amount 

 of energy must remain indefinitely unutilised for the benefit 

 of the country is difficult of belief, but, on the other hand, it 

 should not be forgotten that, in comparison with the water 

 power available in other countries, it is not by any means 

 considerable in magnitude, as the following Table C compiled 

 by the Minister of the Interior of the Canadian Government 

 shows : — 



Table C. 



Though this is not the only chemical industry contingent 

 on water-power engineering, yet I cannot conceive of one more 

 fundamentally important to the country or one which would 

 confer greater benefits on the community. The sources of 

 energy with which South Africa is endowed from a commercial 

 point of view at the present moment are the coal reserves 

 and the water power of the Victoria Falls. Both these are, 

 when compared with the resources of other countries, small 

 in magnitude, and hence, in the interests of the country, 

 demand, from the standpoint of national economy, rational 

 and scientific utilisation, or, in otlier words, conservation in 

 the liighest degree. The only other source of energy witli 

 which the country is happily endowed in large measure is the 



