Development of the Chemical Industry 13 



figure of three million tons, manure, ammonium salts 

 from coke ovens, and Chilean nitrate will replace less 

 than ten per cent. The remaining ninety per cent — two 

 million, seven hundred thousand tons — would have to 

 come from nitrogen fixation plants, similar to the one 

 our government attempted to put up at Muscle Shoals 

 during the war, where one million horse power could be 

 developed, as J. W. Worthington of the Tennessee River 

 Improvement Association has testified. 



It has been stated that one half of one pound of fixed 

 nitrogen can be made per horsepower hour by the Haber 

 process. One million horsepower would make over two 

 million tons fixed nitrogen per year, which is a large 

 part of the amount which the United States may require. 

 The cyanamid process is said to require eight times as 

 much power, and one million horsepower would only 

 make two hundred and fifty thousand tons. The Claude 

 process, which is similar to the Haber process, but is 

 working under high pressure, requires less power and 

 makes more fixed nitrogen per horsepower than the Haber 

 process. 



Only the cyanamid plant was in operation at Muscle 

 Shoals at the time of the armistice, and was reported as 

 running at the rate of forty thousand tons per year, — 

 sixty to seventy such plants would be necessary to sup- 

 ply the nitrogen which is necessary to keep up the fertil- 

 ity of the soil in the United States. A large part of this 

 can be made in Muscle Shoals, provided the water power 

 is developed as Henry Ford proposes to do if he can 

 lease the plant. His proposition is before Congress and 

 it would seem desirable for the good of the country that 

 the plant be utilized for making fertilizing materiaL 

 The people of the United States have invested over 

 one hundred million dollars as a war measure in this 

 enterprise and it is expected that additional thirty 

 million to fifty million dollars be spent on the second 

 and third dam across the river to develop the water 

 power. The first expenditure was made so that we 



