THE NATIONAr. NURSERYMAN 
203 
prodiiclioii. 1 will, thereloro, confino iny nsmarks fo (lie 
prolialile availalile siijiply of pliospliali'-, nilr<)j?(Mi and 
potash, during the eonlinualion of this War, l.ikiiig them 
ill the order lluit I have named them. 
Phosphate 
The source from which we derive our jihosphates in 
available, or soluahle form, is mainly from acid phos- 
[ihate, and acid phosiihale is made from ground phos¬ 
phate rock and surphurie acid, mixed in aiiiiroximately 
(Mjual proportions; therefore, to jiroduce a considerable 
(juantity of Acid jihosphate, it reiiuires an ciiual (luanlity 
of sulphuric acid while, on the other hand, sulphuric 
acid is the basis of all explosives to he manufaclured for 
prosecuting the war. 
Up to the beginning of the wai-, in 1014', it is reliably 
report(‘d that the fertilizer industry was consuming, an¬ 
nually, about two million tons of sulphuric acid, which 
would indicate that we were producing, in the United 
Stab'S, about four million tons of acid phosphate, or a 
tonnage e(}ual to tlie entire amount of sulphuric acid pro¬ 
duced for all purposes. 
In 1917, it is reported that our annual production of 
sulphuric acid had jumped from four million to seven 
million two hundred thousand tons, while our production 
of acid phosphate had been reduced from four million to 
approximately three million tons, showing that, not only 
have the increase of three million tons been consumed 
for war purposes, but that live hundred thousand tons of 
sulphuric acid had been consumed, that would have 
otherwise gone into phosphate. 
The above illustration is made to show the clTect of the 
war upon the fertilizer industry, in reducing the jiroduc- 
tion of one of its most essential plant loods. 
I haven’t the time to go into the functions of phosphorus 
in idaiit growth; we all know of its indis[)ensable value 
in crop growing. Whether our deductions have been 
made on the farm, by careful obeservation, or by scien- 
tilic study, it is of enough importance and value to be 
given serious consideration by nations, in the winning or 
the losing of the war; besides, the demand is here, and 
what we really want to know about is the supply. 
It is extremely doubtful that the manufacturers can 
produce, or get, the sulphuric acid to make as much phos¬ 
phate for next season as last. The Government is taxing 
the manufacturer to the limit of his capacity for acid, 
while wishing him to make every available ton of fer¬ 
tilizer possible. 
The Government knows that fertilizers largely in- 
crc'ase the food ('rops, and that the war cannot be won 
without food, but there is a limit to the capacity of th(! 
sulphuric acid |)lants,'and espi'cially so, since the Span¬ 
ish ore supply has been cut off. 
Nitrogen 
While phosphate, as a plant food, may be likened to 
bi'ead for the human stomach, nitrogen (or ammonia) is 
the meat. 
The Bible tells us that—“Man cannot live liy bread 
alone.” Neither can successful crop growu'ng be done 
w ithout nitrogen. 
Nitrogen produces body, foliage, and size, so that a 
stalk, or a tree, may be capable of bearing wholesome 
fruit, and, whih^ its functions ai’c dillerent from [ihos- 
phorus, it is ('(|ually cssc'iitial, as with meat and bread 
foj' th(^ human stomach. Iha'ausi* our crops arc gathered 
and taken from the tic'lds, our old lands have veiy soon 
hcicome lean in nitiogi'ii, and, tiK'refon', non-produetive. 
Barnyard manures are llu* best nitrogen huildeis of tin* 
soil, b(M*ause of the nitrogen it contains; la^sides, it is 
full of bacteria, so essential to assimilation, but, unfor¬ 
tunately, so small an amount can be produced that it is 
necessary to turn to othei' soui'(*('S for nili’ogi'ii. 
The soluble or availahh* foiins of nitiogen that hav«* 
been se extensivi'ly us(*d by lertilizer manufacturers may 
be classified und(;r thrc'e lu'ads—animal, v(‘g«*lable and 
mineral. 
Of the,animal ammoniati^s, tankage has furnished tiu' 
largest [lart. Next, fish sci'aj) and blood. A lU'w usi? has 
Ix'cn found for tankage w ithin tlu; last lew yi'ars, w Inch 
()ractically (diminates it as a lertilizi'i’ ingredic'iit - viz: 
it is now used as a cattle food. 
Blood and fish scrap are produec'd in such small (juan- 
tities that hut litthi considc'ralion can be given llu'iii as a 
source of supply. 
The vegetable amrnoniati'S have' been lai’g(‘ly used in 
the South -viz: cotton S('('d iiK'al, vc'lvet, soya bean and 
pi^anut meal and grouild tobacco stems, all of whieh 
carry both ammonia and potash in a highly availabh' 
form. However, all of tluisi^ [iroducts, exc(‘pting ground 
tobacco stems, have been I'ccognized as such a valuable 
cattle and hog food, that it is leared that within a short 
time they will also be eliminated as a source of ammonia 
for fertilizers and that tlu' manufacturer will have to 
turn to the mineral sources of supjily, such as cyanamid 
(or air nitrogen), nitrate of soda and sulphab; of am¬ 
monia. 
Ki'om the 1917 cotton croj), hut slightly in ('xcess of 
two million tons of cotton !->eed nx'al wi'ii* |»roduced, 
w hich was markeh'd aiound .‘fiih.bO pei-ton, w ith fn'ight 
added, llowi'ver, the demand for this nxial, as a eattle 
food was so great that but little was obtainabh' for us<' 
in fertilizers; therefore, tIu' production of coni[)l(;t(' fer- 
tilizi'i's was much n'duced. 
The quantity of meal available this si'ason will d('p('nd 
upon the outcoim^ of the |)resent cotton cro|). However, 
it is not anticipati'd, at this time', that the (pianlity will 
exceed last season. 
M INERAL AmMONIATKS 
As before numtioned, the threes availabh' mim'ral am- 
moniates are—sulphate of ammonia, cyanamid and ni- 
ti'ate of soda. 
Sulphate of ammonia is a by-product from cokt^ ovi'iis, 
containing about 25% ammonia, in a highly availabh' 
form, and has been used more extensively in Gi'rmany 
and Ungland than any other ammoniate for years. It is 
now' rapidly coming into use in the Uniti'd States, hut, 
as it is a most valiialile explosive ingredient, (he Govern¬ 
ment has taken it entirely out of the market for usi; in 
fertilizers. 
Nitrate of soda is, as you know', importi'd from Ghih' 
and practically ;ill importations are consumed as war 
material. 
Cyanamid, (or air nitrogen) has been taken out of the 
market, by the Government, in that its production has 
