770 



sowing of the seed and i!ie fertilizer must be covered at least 3 to 5 inches 

 so that the soil can take up the ammonia freed by the action of the soil 

 moisture and thus be nitrified. 



The production of the ammonia from the calcium nitrate takes place by 

 means of bacterial 



The fertilizing experiment, carried out in vegetating vats, has shown 

 the possibility of obtaining the same fertilizing action with calcium nitrid as 

 with saltpetre nitrid and ammonia nitrid. In all field experiments, made as 

 yet, the calcium nitrid has developed about 74 per cent, of the action of the 

 saltpetre nitrid". 



The agriculturalist will cause great injury if he sows his seed soon after 

 scattering the calcium nitrid. Usually only those grain seeds will then 

 sprout which lay on the ridges of the furrows. If the first shock is over- 

 come, the abundant supply of ammonia manifests itself in the especially dark 

 green of the plants. The injury consists of a drying of the leaf parenchyma 

 and a poor root development". The calcium nitrid may not be used as a 

 top dressing any more than as a direct fertilization before seeding. This 

 substance acts unfavorably on certain soils even if it is hoed under according 

 to rule. Remy* found the most favorable action on clayey soils. On sandy 

 soil, however, action was considerably slower and the directly injurious effect 

 on germination much more persistent. Only three months after fertilization 

 did he find that the injurious effect in the sandy soils had disappeared. All 

 soils, tending to the formation of acids, retard the normal formation of 

 ammonia. Tacke has proved that, on acid soils, the transformation into 

 ammonia is so hindered that fertilization of marshes with calcium nitrid 

 must be omitted there. On the other hand, when a great deal of calcium is 

 I)resent in the soil, the ammonia formation can take place so rapidly that 

 extensive losses arise from the vaporization of the ammonia. On high moor 

 soils poisonous action is found which, according to Gerlach, may be traced 

 back to the fact that, with the decomposition of the calcium cyanamid and 

 the deposition of the calcium, considerable amounts of the poisonous dicyana- 

 mid are produced within a few days. 



The conversion of the ammonia into ammonium sulfate, which thus 

 overcomes these disadvantages, is useless for agriculture, since the cost of 

 the nitrogen would thus become too great. 



A still newer fertilizer is associated with this "calcium nitrid," "the 

 nitrogen calcium" which is free from cyanamid compounds and contains 22 

 per cent, nitrogen ; 19 per cent, carbon ; 6 per cent, combined chlorin ; and .15 

 per cent, calcium.. Bottcher's'"' experiments have shown that with this, how- 



1 Lohnis, P., Vsher die Zersetzung des Kalkstickstoffs. Centralbl. f. Bakt. 1905, 

 II, Vol. XIV, p. 87. Behrens, J., Vcrsuche mlt Kalkstick.stoff. Beiicht der Gross- 

 herzog-1. Bad. landw. Vei-suchsanstalt Angu.stenbci-s' 1904, Karlsruhe 1905, p. 36. 



- Gerlach u. Wagner, P., Gewinnung- u. Landwirtschaltliche Verwendung des 

 Salpcterstickstoffs. Verhandl. d. Winterversammlung- 1904 d. Deutsch. Landwirtsch. 

 Ges. Jahrh. d. D. L. G. Vol. 19, p. 33-39. 



3 Perotti, R., tJber die Verwendung' des Calciumcyanamids zur Dungrung. Staz. 

 sper. agrar. Ital. 1904, Vol. XXXVII; cit. Centralbl. f. Ag-rikulturchemie 1905, p. 814. 



4 Blatter f. Zuckerrubenbau, 31 May, 1906. 



5 Deutsche landw. Presse 1906, No. 34. 



