The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1885-09-23
AdRfsUtF6RAI DEPARTMENT.
The Sources oftie~ ingredients OF Chem
ical Fertilizers.

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The Sources of the ingredients OF Chem
ical Fertilizers.
Let us see what are the CONNER
cial materials which practically furnish
the four affective agents of fertility,
hnd if 1.-THE sources of these elements arc
truly ~iucxhaustible and always open
to the wants of agriculture. We will
pass in rapid review the terms of the
complete fertilizer: nitrogen, phos-
phoric acid, potash and lime.
This is one of the most widespread
substances in nature. 1t forms 70 per
cent. of the volume ofthe atmospheric
air. For every quart of air we breathe
we draw into into our lungs 70 per
cent. of nitrogen aud 81 per cent of
oxygen. We live in the midst of n
sea of gas $4,000 yards deep, and move
in this nrian ocean like the fish in the
depths of the sea. When we walk we
The nitrogen and oxygen constituting
this ambient medium are not combin-
ed; they are simply mixed in such q
way that each II can freely enter
into all the chemical and organic com
binations to which il is attracted by
its afinities. The word nitrogen
comes from the Greek and means
without life. 1t is in truth by itself
unfit for respiration, and burning
bodies plunged into it are Immediately
extinguishcd; this fact made the
ancicnts confound it with carbolic
acid.
Rutherford, in 1872, was the first to
distinguish it from this gas. 1t acts
the part of moderator in air and in
organic combinations, tempering the
too quick action of oxygen. The blue
color of the atmosphere at long dis
tances is attributed to the gas. Pure
nitrogen is always in n gaseous state,
but it is easily obtained in combina-
tons, either with hydrogen in the
form of ammonia or oxygen in the
form of nitric acid. In an ammoHiac
form, nitrogen is easily allied with
sulphuric acid and forms sulphatc of
ammonia, q salt which crystalizes
perfectly, is very soluble and contains
20 per cent. its weight in nitrogen.
Nitrate of soda furnishes also Is per
cent. of the nitrogen of nitric acid,
combined with the oxyde Of sodium.
Nitrate of potash contains 13 per cent.
which enters into the fertilizer when
this salt is used as q ource of potash.
All the nitrogen absorbed by the roots
of plants comes to them in the form of
nitric acid or ammonia neutralized by
q base and ammonia neutraliZcd by an
acid. The nitrogen which the plants
draw from the air is in a gaseous state.
1t is the leaves that capture it under
this form. Nitrogen can then be as
simulated by plants under three forms,
as ammonia, as q nitrate and as a gas,
pure and invisible as it exists in the
composition of the air.
Ammoniacal n~itrates arc particular
ly adapted to the cereals, nitrate of
potash to beets and other roots and
gaseous nitrogen to the legumes. A
great part of the sulphate of ammonia
of commerce comes from gas factories.
2,645 pounds of coal yields about 10
pounds of sulphate of ammonia. Equal
proportions are taken from the drain
age water of large cities treated with
sulphuric acid and certain aqueous vol
N But the i~neXhaustible source
of heterogeneous matter lis the air. co.
100000 pounds of atmospheric nitrogen
rest permanently OH the surface of each
acre. Directly to draw the nitrogen
of the air SO as to make ii .assimilaJle
to plants is the most beautiful problem
which chemistry can solve in favor of
agriculture, and consequently of the
feeding of mankind. The more nitro
gen given to wheat the greater the
harvest and the richer the grain in
gluten. To draw nitrogen from the
air for the benefit of our fields is prac-
tically to solve the problem of cheap
living; and we will certainly succeed
in this, for as soon as q problem be-
ONE a question of general interest,
science gives a solution Of it.
Besides, we are already on the way
10 this solution; we have already sue
ceeded in manufacturing heterogeneous
matter whose nitrogen originates from
the air. We are now only looking for
cheaper methods to give agriculture
mountains of heterogeneous matter,
manufactured at the cost of the atmos-
phere. Still, while seeking this, i'm
mense quantities of Commercial nitro
-mattcr., we'll fitted for chemi-
cal fertilizers, is always at onr COM
mand and will never be wanting for
onr real needs.
PnosPHORIC ACID.
In 1869 an alchemist, of Hamburg,
discovered a strange substance. II
was a yellowish white body, soft as
wax, translucid, burning with an odor
OF garlic and spontaneously, besides
giving light in the dark, a characteristic
which in that superstitious age inspir-
ed terror. You recognize PHOSPHORUS.
Its name is derived from the Greek
phos, light and phero, I carry, on
account of the luminous vapor it
spreads in the dark. No industrial
nnrltnnftN,, hns.. c~,.I G.. Il
it long remained a curiosity of the
l%abratory. 1t is scarcely a hundred
years since, phosphorus was known
to any but rare adopts in chemistry
and they not vuite free FROM the sup,
erstitions attending it.
Before the invention Of chemical
lights in 1915, it was believed a rare
substance. No idea of its abundance
in nature or the immense Importance
of it to organized beings was known.
Agriculture did not suspect its useful
a.4on -..l - aI