The Colorado statesman., 1914-01-24
SHOWS BIG WASTE
important FertiIizing Material Is
Thrown Away.
Only 25 Per Cent. Of Country Tank
age Is Available, and Lost Prod
ucts In the Distillation Of
Coal Amount to Millions.

| w -otNeuty-uVe per Ctnt
of highly valuable fertilizing mate
rial in the form of tankage and blood
from the country slaughter of food an.
imals is being wasted throughout the
country districts. In addition $22, ,000,-
! 900 worth of ammonia from which
ammonium sulphate, another valuable
fertilizing material could be made, is
annually wasted by the practice of
making coke in the beehive type of
oven, according to a recent bulletin
of the department of agriculture.
Tankage, a product of slaughter
houses consisting of such waste ma
terial as bones, horns, hoofs, hair, etc,
contains large percentage of nitro
gen and other products used in COM
mercial fertilizer and in the larger
packing houses is carefully saved. In
country killing, however, only rs per
cent. of the tankage and blood are
saved for fertilizer. The nitrogen
content of tankage is said to vary
from to s per cent. and its phos-
phoric acid content between and IL
per cent.
Dried blood is perhaps the richest
|
ais used in the fertilizing Industries.
Unadulterated blood when quite dry
contains IA per cent. of nitrogen, but
as obtained on the market its content
varies from 8 to 13 per cent.
From the figures estimated by the
bureau of animal industry, depart
ment of agriculture, as representing
the total slaughter of cattle, calves,
swine, and sheep in the United States,
in 1912, it has been calculated that if
all the materials rendered available
by this slaughter had been saved and
converted into tankage and dried
blood, they would have produced 222,-
535 tons of tankage and 1874 tons OF
dried blood
The introduction of a cooperative
system among American farmers un-
doubtedly would result in an in
creased utilization of blood and tank
age for fertilizing purposes. In Den
mark country killing is being prac-
ticed on cooperative basis in small
country abattoirs, and the blood is
carefully preserved.
The loss of ammonium sulphate
|
um nitrate as plant stimulant in the
distillation of coal for the production
of coke, is described in the bulletin
as follows:
In the main, coal is distilled in this
country in that form of coke oven,
the beehive oven, which does not ad-
init of the recovery of the distillation
products. Instead, they are allowed
to go to waste. So we are indebted
to the by-product recovery oven for
the main supply of ammonium sui
phate. The amount recovered is val
ued at about S4,O00.O0O, while the re-
in the coking processes by the bee
hive ovens is valued at $22,00O,OOO
At the beginning of 1912 there
were 1924 by-product coke ovens in
operation in the United States and sos
building"
The great product of Chile, sodium
nitrate, possesses less nitrogen con-
tent (15.5 per cent? than ammonium
sulphate. The United States. however
Imports a great quantity Gn 1911, TO-
900 tons) for use in agriculture, owing
to the deficient supply of other ferti-
| lizers in this county. This is only a
small part of the total amount of So
dunn nitrate America imports yearly
from Chile, as it has many other uses.
The more intensive agriculture of re-
cent years has emphasized the de-
mand for nitrates, and the fact that
the Chilean beds of nitrates have been
surveyed and figures have been OBJ
| ;.l, al,
close estimate of the amount of nj
trate remaining there should stimulate
the manufacture of nitrogenous sub
stances suitable for fertilizer manufac-
| ture, and serve as warning against
undue waste.
Artificial nitrates have become com
mercially important to supply the de-
mand in this country, calcium cyana-
mide being perhaps the most nitrogen
GUS material manufactured for fer
tilizer purposes. 1t is prepared from
calcium carbide and free nitrogen, the
latter being prepared from the atmos-
phere by the removal of oxygen. This
industry is considered to be as yet
only in its infancy. and with the in
creased capacity of existing factories
and extensions now under way should
prove an important factor in the pres
ent source of nitrogenous fertilizers.
The relative values of the different
fertilizers are brought out fully in this
bulletin (No. 80 which can be had on
application to the division of publica-
tions, United States department of
agriculture Washington. D. C.
Imported cattle inspected by the
bureau of animal industry. U. S. De-
| Dartment of agri-