29 



peat, or garbage tankage. This practice is legitimate provided 

 the nitrogen which the conditioner carries is not counted in the 

 guarantee and a statement appears on the tag that such materials 

 have been used for this purpose. 



It will be seen in the complete tables of analyses that the man- 

 ner of reporting the form and quality of nitrogen in the complete 

 fertilizers varies somewhat from that of last year. It is now 

 stated as follows: 

 ' 1. Nitrogen in form of nitrates and ammoniates. 



2. Water soluble organic nitrogen. 



3. Active water insoluble organic nitrogen. 



4. Inactive water insoluble organic nitrogen. 



5. Total nitrogen found. 



•6. Total nitrogen guaranteed. 



The following may be said in explanation of the various forms 

 of nitrogen reported: 



Nitrogen in form of Nitrates and Ammoniates. This indicates 

 the amount of nitrogen present as nitrate of soda or potash and 

 as sulfate of ammonia. Both are mineral forms of nitrogen, 

 soluble in water and readily available to plants. The nitrogen 

 from calcium cyanamid would appear in part with these forms 

 and in part with the water soluble organic nitrogen, its availability 

 corresponding to that in sulfate of ammonia. 



Water Soluble Organic Nitrogen. This denotes that portion 

 of the organic nitrogen which is soluble in water and which pre- 

 sumably is readily available to the growing plant. 



Active Water Insoluble Organic Nitrogen. This includes 

 that portion of the organic nitrogen which, although not soluble 

 in water, is readily acted upon and liberated by the chemicals 

 used in the modified alkaline permanganate method. This form 

 of nitrogen is believed to be acted upon by bacteria and other 

 forms of soil life and easily converted into forms available to the 

 growing plant during the first year of its application. The activity 

 of this form of nitrogen has been fairly well established by ex- 

 tensive vegetation experiments carried on at the Rhode Island 

 Station and elsewhere in conjunction with a study of the alkaline 

 permanganate method. 



Inactive Water Insoluble Organic Nitrogen. As the name 

 indicates, this includes that portion of the organic nitrogen which 

 is not acted upon or, if acted upon, is not set free by the chemicals 

 used in the modified alkaline permanganate method. This 

 nitrogen will probably not be available as plant food the first 

 season of its application, although in time it may become active. 



