Report of Committee on Fertilizers. 
By E. O. Painter. 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
The most expensive form of plant food 
that the horticulturist and farmers have 
to buy is ammonia. Therefore I deem a 
little information as to the different kinds 
and sources of ammonia would not be out 
of place with the members of the Florida 
State Horticultural Society. 
Ammoniates should be divided into 
three different classes: Chemical, Animal 
and Vegetable. The chemical sources are 
the most expensive per ton but as a rule 
are the cheapest per unit. Being soluble 
they are the quickest available and can 
be used to great advantage where quick 
crops are grown. 
CHEMICAL AMMONIATES. 
There are some chemical ammoniates 
that are high in plant food but are very 
seldom used as a source in fertilizer 
mainly on account of the small quantity 
produced. 
NITRATE AMMONIA. 
Nitrate ammonia contains the highest 
percentage of ammonia of any material 
that is offered as it contains on an av¬ 
erage of 38 per cent. This nitrate am¬ 
monia is a byproduct in the manufacture 
of high explosives and for years has been 
thrown away as the manufacturers were 
not appraised of the value of it as a plant 
food. Recently 40 tons of these goods 
were sold for $100.00 per ton. This ni¬ 
trate ammonia is made by mixing and 
neutralizing nitric acid of a high grade 
with a good grade of aqua ammonia in 
the same manner that sulphate ammonia 
is manufactured. It is very high because 
it not only contains ammonia from sul¬ 
phate but also the nitrate from nitric acid. 
As stated above this article has been a 
waste product for years but is now bring¬ 
ing the manufactures a clear $100.00 a 
ton. It would be an excellent form for 
the farmers to use if it was to be had in 
sufficient quantities, but as the whole 
amount made in the entire United States 
is probably less than 100 tons there is 
not very much danger of the market be¬ 
ing stocked with this article. 
SULPHATE OF AMMONIA. 
Sulphate of ammonia is another one 
of the valuable byproducts in the manu¬ 
facturing interest of our country. For¬ 
merly the ammonia from the gas works 
and coke ovens was all allowed to escape 
into the open air but now it is caught and 
combined with sulphuric acid producing 
sulphate of ammonia, for the benefit of 
the farmer and mankind generally. In 
making gas, the coal undergoes a process 
of destructive distillation in the closed 
retort or oven. This liberates the am¬ 
monia which passes away with the gas 
and is absorbed by water through the 
scrubbing or cooling process. The liquid 
containing the ammonia is heated and the 
ammonia liberated by lime water which is 
led through a bath of sulphuric acid 
through a bath of sulphuric acid where 
where the ammonia combines with the 
