The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1902-12-25
M'CANDLESS LETTER
Description of heterogeneous
Fertilizer Materials.
SUBSTANCES USED IN THEM.

House Products-Drled Blood Rich.
est In Nitrogen.
AS you and others have written me to
know what is the value of the differ.
/ ent materials used in the manufacture
| of commercial fertilizers. | will give
you at this point fairly complete ac.
count of the substances principally
used. First we will consider in the
order OF their value In dollars and
cents. and their agricultural import.
anee. the heterogeneous materials, or
those which yield nitrogen to the plant.
Such substances are also known as am.
moniates. because under certain con-
ditios the nitrogen which they contain
can be converted into ammonia. Now
nitrogen and ammonia are not the
same thing by any means. but still
they are closely related, they are both
! gases. Nitrogen, as have described
to you before in another place, is a
colorless, ordorless, tasteless gas. and
constitutes four-ifths of the air or at.
mosphere which envelops the earth.
Ammonia Is also a gas and Is colorless.
but 1t has pungent odor, the same
which you have noticed in spirits of
hartshorn or spirits of ammonia
bought from the drug store. II also
has a caustic burning taste, and is
easily dissolved in water, which nitro
gen is not
Ammonia Is made by causing nitro
gen to combine with hydrogen. Four.
teen pounds If nitrogen combine with
three pounds Of hydrogen to make
seventeen pounds of ammonia, so that
ammonia always contains a large
amonnt of nitrogen, but nitrogen never
contains any ammonia. And right
here 1t is well for you to understand,
that We have all fallen into a very
unwise and erroneous habit of speak
ing about fertilizer as containing
such per cent. of ammonia. AS a
matter of fact it is rarely. If ever. the
case that fertilizer contains any am.
monia, as such at all, but it does con.
tain nitrogen combined in various
| forms.
AS you know 1t is customary, in the
careless way of talking obtaining
among us all, to speak of cotton-seed
meal as containing eight per cent. Of
! ammonia. That is wrong 1t does not
| contain any ammonia, but it does con-
tain six and six-tenths per cent. of
nitrogen In the form of albuminoids or
| protein, Of which wrote you SO much
In my letters on feeding; and this six
and six-tenths per cent. of nitrogen
can under certain chemical conditions
be converted into eight per cent. or am.
monia. hope then I have made this
plain, and when you buy fertilizer In
the future don't imagine. because, you
smell certain peculiar odors about ii,
that you smell ammonia; that is rarely.
II ever the case; the odors you smell
are usually due to animal matters,
| flsh-scrap ETC., and indicate no greater
value in the fertilizer than one which
has no odor at all
In the same way a dark or black
color is no indication Of value in the
fertilizer. In point Of fact the highest
| grade fertilizer which could possibly
be compounded by the art OF man
would be snow white in color. The
materials used for compounding such
fertilizer would be nitrate OF am
monia and phosphate OF potash, and
these salts when chemically pure are
snow white salts. To return now Ia
our description of the various nitro.
genous materials. Cotton-seed meal,
with which you are fully familiar,
stands first in importance In Southern
agriculture.
An average meal of good quality
will contain six and six-tenths per
cent. of nitrogen, which, II converted
into ammonia, would be equal to eight
per cent.
! II also contains an average of 81
per cent. Of phosphor1c acid and 1.g
per cent Of potash. 1t Is a very valua.
BILE fertilizer, and constitutes the nitro.
gen base Of the greater portion of CON-
mercial fertilizers manufactured in the
South.
"PACKINe.HoUsE PRODUCTS"
AS little is generally known Of these
and the manner Of their production,
/ will give you brief account Of their
manufacture.
The great packing. houses are locat-
ed chiefly In Chicago. Kansas City and
Omaha, where immense numbers Of
cattle are slaughtered, and the var
ious parts Of the body are put to some
special use. Apart form the production
of dressed beef, mutton or pork, there
is of course a. large quantity OF waste
to be utilized, but the material most
interesting to US is that which is used
for fertilizer, this consists Of blood,
of bones, and a mixture of scraps Of
meat skin, bones and blood.
DRIED BLOOD.
The material known as dried blood"
is the most valuable fertilizlng pro-
| duct and the richest I'm r,ftrooap In