The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-08-26

The announcement that such enorn Hs sums arc to be spent in Alabama on W f power development in connection with manufacture of nitrate fertilizer from sAs au naa rIatsreiis- aro~a>a s,resst Sat aa. in the subject.
 The federal government, through it's 7us sus, has collected a great deal of ta1 nation on the matter which is ava 6hla to these interested. As the power at iask IS, on the coosa river, Is to be usea fsf the manufacture of an air nitrate 1 rat- izer, known as Calcium cyanamid, amH extracts from consular reports or tHe subject may be read with interest.
 A. II. Baldwin, chief of tho bures ai manufactures, writes the following ier.fr of submittal in submitting the repoft s. Thomas II. Norton. consul at cherialfE Germany, on the subject of the "Ca ton of Atmospheric Nitrogen.
 Department of Commerce and Lab
 Bureau of Manufacture.
 washington, April ,, l9lz.
 "sir:-I have the honor to submit here with a report on the alr-nitrate in dustry by Consul Thomas II. Norton, | of Chemnitz, who is on special dctaii for the department of commerce and labor | for the investigation of the chemical in- dustries of Europe. For many years the world has been dependent on the nitrate beds of Chile for supplies of combined nitrogen, and as these beds are not in- exhaustible and as the demand for com- bined nitrogen by manufacturing and ag- rlcultural interests is rapidly increasing, affa ban pnQdn dlE- cover new deposits. and many prominent chemists have endeayored to perfect pro- cesses for utilizing atmospheric nitrogen. The report deals with the present supply of nitrogen, the synthetic production of ammonia, the synthesis of nitric acid, hydrocyanic acid. cyanides. nitrides, and calcium cyanamide from atmospheric nitrogen, and coal waste and peat as sources of ammonia. It should be oi value in view of the fact that the United States now spends over ss2,0o0, 900 abroad | for nitrogen in its various combinations. Respectfully. A. II. BALDWIN, Chief of Bureau. ITO Hon. CHARLES NAGEL. 1 Secretary of Commerce and Labor 1 On page 10 or the same report. as fol- lows:
 1 The United States Is now sending abroad over s32 100000 annually for the 1 purchase of nitrogen in it's yaiious com 1 binationa, and over half of this sum is | expended for a single item and goes to a | single country--Chile Further. nearly all of the nitrogen contained tn the lisi | Of more valuable nitrogenous compound: is derived from Chile saltpeter exported tt | European countries, chiefly Germany. "The fact that the United States, 1T common with all civilized countries. ant l especially with all manufacturing eoun | tries, is so dependent upon the ono source | and the additional fact that the deposits | of nitrate in Chile are not particularly extensive and are destined at sn earl, | cate to complete exhaustion, constitute | the nitrogen problem.
 1 On page ? of the same report. as fol l lows:
 l No attempt Is made by the Chilean | government to restrict the output, al | though there is an export duty of $ll.1i l per short ton on saltpeter. From thi; one source 50 per cent of the .chileat revenues are now derived. During th' si years beginning with 1879 the industrj and agriculture of the world haze pait a tax of s425.0O00 900 to Chile.
 On pages q and 2S of the same report as follows:
 Tt is evident that the deposits O. nitrate outside of Chile, barring new ant not very probable discoveries. possess ; l purely local and transient importance They have noe bearing upon the world problem.
 "rhe worlds demand for nitrogen i | rapidly increasing. This demand can b met in four ways. as follows.
 T. By a temporarily increased suppl. of saltpeter from deposits, seon. how over to be exhausted.
 "2. By an increased supply of ammoni'
 as by-product of coal and peat. depend ent on a general reform in the use 0 these materials as fuel and limited by tn sxtent to which they may be used a