50 Fertilizers 



Differing from sulfate of ammonia it tends to sweeten 

 soils rather than cause a more acid condition. 



If calcium cyanamid is used to supply a part of the 

 nitrogen in a complete fertilizer, the analysis will be 

 somewhat misleading. In the chemical analysis, the 

 form in which the nitrogen derived from cyanamid would 

 be reported would depend upon the amounts and forms 

 of nitrogen derived from other sources used in the mix- 

 ture. If nitrate of soda is used in the mixture, the amount 

 of nitrate nitrogen reported will be greater than the actual 

 amount derived from nitrate of soda, a portion being 

 obtained from the cyanamid. This same condition is 

 true when ammonia salts are used, a part of the nitrogen 

 from cyanamid would be reported as ammonia nitrogen. 

 In either case the remaining portion of nitrogen from 

 cyanamid would be reported as water-soluble organic 

 nitrogen. 



NITRATE NITROGEN 



Neither organic nor ammonia compounds containing 

 nitrogen are capable of fully meeting the demands of 

 plants for this element. The first, or organic nitrogen, 

 must pass through two changes, first to ammonia, and 

 then to nitrate, and the ammonia must change to a 

 nitrate. 



This process already referred to is known as nitrifica- 

 tion. The nitrate is directly absorbed by plants, and the 

 larger portion obtained by them is taken up in this form. 

 Hence, from the standpoint of availability, nitrate nitrogen 

 must be regarded as the most useful form. Like ammonia 

 too, a pound of it is as good as any other pound, from 

 whatever product it may have been derived. It is a 

 relatively concentrated material; and as it is perfectly 



