The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-03-20
THE NITRATE SUPPLY.
This Country May Soon he Independent
IN This Respect.

This Country May Soon BE independent
In This Respect.
The National Geographic society has
issued a bulletin in which 1t discusses
the question of the nitrate supply OF
the world. In this bulletin 1t points OUT
that as a result of the scientlhc eNpeLi.
ments that have been going on for the
last two or three years, processes TOT
securing nitrogen from the air, as Wen
as Others for securing 1t from our CoaI
deposits, promise to give US an apsol ~ c
indenendence of any other nation In the
world for nitrate supplies III the iutU' O'
The bulletin says: t,,.ure
nitrogen supply seems to have peeH
since the outbreak of the war IN
Europe Heretofore the world has had
to depend mainly upon the nitrate DeuS
of Chile for it's nitrogen. Many process
where n is to be found in superabun-
dart quantities, since it constitutes
about three-fourths of all OF our az
Tnosphere have been developed put
most of them have PROVED SO ti",ns "
emergency. Recently, however. there
has been discovered and put In use
new process that is said TO reduce tne
horse power required to extract a gtT -
en- amount of nitrogen 10 one-tweltt;n
of the former proportion. The result
of this will probably be that IN inc
wears to come the world Will ma
cheaper source OF nitrogen II5H O.
hand in the air than has ever Deeh
found in the nitrate beds Of chile.
at has also been found that through
the coking process big supplies OF NJ
trogen can be extracted from coal Ell
gineers now estimate that If we were
r. coke twice as much coal as we have
in the past, which would still be less
than per cent of our total coal output
the nitrogen that we could seSurs
fherefrom would be more than enough
~ meet all of our needs as a nation,
either in peace or in war In the COX.
ing of coal substance Is recoNer1u
which is called by the chemist oenzol =
The expenses of recovery are not ex-
cessiyeiy great, and just at the time
when our government was announcing
that there was no real nitrate oeposlt
anywhere in sight in the united states
of really important value, the descrip-
tions of the Haber process of EXTRACTION
from the air and of the processes TOT
recovery from coal have been most
timely. ...u 80
all about the war across the Atlantic is
that part that nitrogen plays IN II. a
nitrogen atom is the most patrlclan OF
all atoms 1t never descends 10 tne
derbolt. Then it comes down on the
bosom of the raindrop, gets into the
soil and starts an endless rouhu VI
combinations with the atoms OF otner
elements, some more and some less dis
tasteful to It. but none after it's own
liking. Now it is linked up with others
to form the grass and the grain, now
united with still others in the hesh OF
the animal world and now going pack
to grass again. But when the chemlsl
comes along and imprisons 1t along
with other atoms whose company 1t re-
sents the prison being cotton or earth
it awaits its first opportunity to make
a bold dash for liberty. This oppor-
tunity usually comes with the detonat-
ing effect of illuminate of mercury OF
some other substance, and the result If
a terrific explosion. The nitrogen atom
at last free from it's many entangline
alliances makes bold dash PACK into
the circumambient and the violence OF
the explosion is the measure OF the re-
pulsion 1t feels toward the netghoors
with which 1t has been a forced pris-
oner
mot only will the new processes oil
extracting a bountiful supply of nitro
gen from the air and from coal De ar
advantage to us in the matter or de-
Tending our country, and in putting II
upon an Independent basis from a Worlo
standpoint but it will be an immense
Advantage to us in our agriculture. The
most expensive element that we have
to put into the soil to farm profitably IL
nitrogen. We ordinarily buy 1T in the
shape of nitrate, ground bone, or de-
composed animal matter, and the farm
er's fertilizer bill Is always heavy If he
wants to produce large crops, A cheap
source of nitrogen, such as we might