1920.] Parry'.—Nitrogenous Manures in New Zealand. 135 
nitric acid and other chemicals command a higher price, and the processes 
mentioned may be regarded as being economical for the production of 
various chemicals ; but if regarded primarily from the point of view of 
producers of artificial fertilizers they cannot be regarded as being economical. 
The probability is that the manufacturers turn the primary products into 
fertilizers when the demand for the more remunerative form of product 
falls off, and take advantage of the market in fertilizers in order to regulate 
their own production. 
A very important point in considering the establishment of any process 
for the fixing of atmospheric nitrogen is the proximity of a large and mixed 
market. Thus in the case of the process for fixing atmospheric nitrogen 
by means of the electric arc it is essential for the stability of the business 
that there should be a market for nitric acid, ammonium nitrate, sodium 
nitrite, sodium nitrate, as well as for the fertilizer calcium nitrate. Like¬ 
wise, in the case of the cyanamide process, a market for calcium carbide, 
as well as for a large number of products derived from cyanamide, is 
essential if the business is to be a remunerative one. 
The success of the Haber process of synthetic ammonia apparently 
depends upon obtaining a supply of by-product hydrogen and sulphuric 
acid. The Hauser process is dependent upon coke-oven gases, and also 
makes use of by-product ammonia produced by the distillation of coal, 
whilst fixation depends upon another by-product in the form of sulphuric 
acid. 
Generally speaking, any artificially produced nitrogenous fertilizer must- 
be obtained as a by-product in order to compete with Chile nitrate. 
Manufacture of Nitrogenous Fertilizer by the Government. 
It has been suggested that the Government should embark upon the 
manufacture of nitrogenous fertilizer in New Zealand. It will be gathered, 
however, from the preceding statements that the business of making nitro¬ 
genous fertilizers by this means is not such a remunerative one as might 
be inferred, and that the factories engaged in fixing atmospheric nitrogen, 
whether by the arc process or by means of calcium carbide, are primarily 
dependent upon other forms of product, and that it is essential for their 
success that they should be in the proximity of a large market for all 
kinds of chemical material, and, moreover, that they should command a 
market in at least one form of the product which they obtain by their 
process. None of these conditions obtain in New Zealand, and the 
Government would be very ill-advised to embark upon any large project 
of the kind. 
It is recognized, however, that there is a demand for ammonium salts, 
caustic soda, caustic potash, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, and sulphuric 
acid, forming as they do the raw material of so many industries. It is 
felt, however, that for the present this demand can best be met by local 
production, as such materials are not suitable for transportation. Such 
a local manufacture will follow whenever a supply of electricity becomes 
generally available, as is the case in Canterbury, where steps have already 
been taken to manufacture hydrochloric acid and caustic soda by electro¬ 
lysis, and to make steel castings by an electric process, the power being- 
obtained from Lake Coleridge and the works situated near the Addington 
Substation. Negotiations are also being conducted with freezing-work 
experts with a view to producing nitrogenous material as a by-product, 
and using the electric current for this purpose during the slack season. 
