HIGH GRADli NITROGEXOUS FERTILIZER MATERIALS 59 



compounds being sold to-day, namely, calcium nitrate and calcium 

 cyanamid. 



Calcium nitrate sometimes called lime nitrogen is manufactured, 

 with cheaj) water-power, in Notodden, Norway. It contains 

 about 13 per cent, of nitrogen and can be sold at a profit for $40 

 per ton, which is equivalent to nitrate of soda at about $50 per 

 ton. Recent experiments show it to be as valuable as nitrate 

 of soda in crop producing power.* 



Calcium cyanamid is a grey black crystalline powder. It is 

 made from limestone, coke and nitrogen gas with the aid of 

 the electric furnace. When calcium cyanamid was first placed 

 upon -the market it contained small quantities of substances in- 

 jurious to young plants, and the manufacturers now claim to 

 put out a product in which these poisonous materials are absent. 

 It carries 17 to 20 per cent, of nitrogen.* 



Properties. — About 80 per cent, of the nitrogen in the improved 

 cyanamid is as cyanamid and the remaining 20 per cent, as ni- 

 trate. Calcium cyanamid contains about 20 per cent, of free lime 

 which absorbs water and carbonic acid gas from the air, causing 

 the lime to slake and the product to decompose so that ammonia 

 is formed. This ammonia is not lost to any great extent when 

 the product is kept in bags, but if it is exposed in a loose pile the 

 loss may be appreciable. Calcium cyanamid is soluble in water 

 and when steam is introduced into it ammonia is driven off. In 

 the soil the ammonia is given off by the action of water and 

 soil micro-organisms. The action with water is : 



CaCN^ 4- 3H,0 = CaCOs -f 2NH3. 



Fertilizing Value. — Experiments show that this product has 

 about the same fertilizing value as ammonium sulphate on most 

 soils. It is therefore highly available. It would no doubt show 

 to good advantage on soils deficient in lime. Care should be 

 exercised in its application. When the product contains injurious 

 substances it is liable to injure seedlings and it is safe practice 

 to apply it sometime before the seed is planted. It is thought 

 to be injurious when used as a top dressing but this point has 

 not been thoroughly proved. Should the '"Improved Cyanamid" 

 be free from injurious substances it will prove a much more de- 

 sirable fertilizer.* 



