The operations, as already outlined on [page 424], are crude, and the cost of production is correspondingly high, amounting to around $25 to $30 per ton at seaboard, inclusive of the $11 export tax. The nitrate is marketed largely through commission houses. The American situation is mostly in the hands of three companies, W. R. Grace & Co., E. I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Co., and Wessel, Duval & Co. The magnitude of the Chilean industry as a whole and its relative importance are shown in [Figures 16] to [18] and [Table 66].
By-product Compounds.
—To this class of compounds belong, with the few minor exceptions already noted, the nitrogenous products of organic derivation as a whole, and those from carboniferous sources such as coal and oil shale. From the former source comes a miscellany of organic refuse resulting from activities dealing with animal, vegetable, and fish products, and carrying nitrogen in the form of organic ammoniates commonly left as such for use in agriculture. From the latter the nitrogen recovered is all chemical nitrogen in the form of ammonia or ammonium salts, mostly ammonium sulphate, and is available in all capacities.
The organic production is impossible of definite analysis from any angle. The lack of systematically compiled records, and back of that the miscellaneous largely decentralized character of the output, along with the fact that the producing costs are for the most part indistinguishable, leaves altogether too much to the imagination. Much of the supply is derived from connections of sanitation, especially of local sanitation, such as the rural practice, for which there is no measure whatever. Another prominent source of supply is represented in what is known as tankage, the refuse from animal-rendering plants; but here too the issue is lost in the scattering of the production, the indefiniteness of composition, and the fact that not all of the product is used as a source of nitrogen, some of it going into the preparation of animal food. The same is true of cottonseed meal and various other less prominent forms of organic waste resulting from industrial activities. Fish scrap and slaughter-house refuse from meat packing also contribute prominently and at the same time rather more definitely to the supply of agricultural nitrogen; but even here adequate figures are not available. The Federal Trade Commission undertook to analyze the 1913 consumption, with results given in the following table:
Estimated Consumption of Nitrogen in Commercial Fertilizers for the Year 1913
| Materials | Fertilizing substance | Consumption (tons) | Content (per cent.) | Units consumed [157] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nitrate of soda | Ammonia | 260,000 | 18.0 | 4,680,000 |
| Sulphate of ammonia | Ammonia | 130,000 | 25.0 | 3,250,000 |
| Cyanamid | Ammonia | 15,488 | 18.0 | 278,784 |
| High-grade tankage | Ammonia | 210,000 | 10.5 | 2,205,000 |
| Concentrated | Ammonia | 18,351 | 14.5 | 266,090 |
| Dried blood | Ammonia | 40,000 | 17.0 | 680,000 |
| Dried fish scrap | Ammonia | 50,000 | 11.0 | 550,000 |
| Cottonseed meal | Ammonia | 660,000 | 7.5 | 950,000 |
| Total | ... | ... | ... | 16,859,874 |
[157] A unit is 1 per cent. of a ton, or 20 pounds.
This estimate, however, takes into account only the more strictly industrial sources, leaving rural sanitation and the like out of the reckoning.
Aside from the conversion of organic ammoniates, which is practiced on a large scale only in a few instances, notably that of the Paris system of sewage disposal, four general types of industrial operation figure more or less in the production of by-product ammonia. They include coal distillation, bone carbonization, oil-shale distillation, and blast-furnace operations. The American production, however, is all derived from the first two types. Both the others are active producers abroad, especially in Scotland, but neither of them has as yet obtained a foothold in this country. The American recovery in connection with bone carbonization is of minor consequence. Practically the whole supply comes from gas works and by-product coking operations. [Figure 17], in the shaded area bearing the designation “ammonium sulphate production,” shows the magnitude and trend of the production from year to year since 1900.
The organic nitrogen recovered in all of the various by-product connections taken together probably constitutes 40 to 50 per cent. of the total supply. Coal product ammonia in this country adds another 12 to 15 per cent. So over half of our supply is of by-product derivation. The domestic output is supplemented in the case of the organic form by considerable importations from South America, and, until interfered with by the war, small amounts of ammonium sulphate were imported annually from Europe. Essentially, however, the by-product supply is of domestic origin. Despite its magnitude, it occupies an anomalous sort of position industrially. It is recovered incidentally for what it is worth, and sold for what it will bring. The cost of production is largely charged off against the major operations with which its recovery is associated, and the returns are credited in conformance, as a saving in the cost of the major operations. This is equally true whether the source be that of the domestic animal on the farm, a coke oven, or a packing house.