130 THE NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE 



mide process had been installed in all the larger countries of 

 continental Europe, and in Canada and Japan. The synthetic 

 process had been developed exclusively in Germany, and dur- 

 ing the war it was being greatly extended there. Had it not 

 been for this process, assuring a supply of explosives, Ger- 

 many would never have ventured to declare war on Europe. 



On this continent the only considerable installation of fixa- 

 tion processes was that of the American Cyanamid Company 

 at Niagara Falls, Canada. This plant had in 1916 a capacity 

 for producing annually 12,800 tons of nitrogen in the form of 

 cyanamide. A small arc-process plant having an annual 

 capacity of about 300 tons had been installed and operated at 

 Nitrolee, South Carolina. The DuPont Powder Company had 

 also made complete designs for the installation of an arc process 

 plant of the Norwegian type. 



The detailed information and experience needed for the in- 

 stallation of a cyanamide or an arc process plant in this coun- 

 try was therefore available, being in the possession of some 

 of our leading industrial companies. But this was not true 

 to anything like the same degree of the synthetic ammonia 

 process, the details of which had been kept by the Germans 

 a carefully guarded secret. The General Chemical Company 

 of this country had, however, been working for years on a 

 modified form of the German process; and soon after the 

 declaration of war by the United States this Company placed 

 its information and experience at the disposal of the Govern- 

 ment. 



This then was the situation in April, 1917, when the Govern- 

 ment was faced with the urgent problem of enormously in- 

 creasing our supply of nitrogen products. It remains to de- 

 scribe the steps that were taken to solve it. 



During the year preceding our entrance into the war some 

 preparation had fortunately been made. Congress had passed 

 on June 3, 1916 an act placing $20,000,000 at the disposal of 

 the President for the erection of nitrogen-fixation plants and 



