'nitrogen and Drainage

, The nitrogen of the three above sources of nitrogen is not available to the plant until it has been converted to ammonia, the nitrites or nitrates. In sugarcane probably the most important of the above three compounds is the nitrate nitrogen form. When added to the soil in a commercial fertilizer, nitrate nitrogen, if applied in fairly large quantities, under certain conditions can also be the most uneconomical type, for it is readily leached from the soil during and after a heavy rain. The result is that very little or any available nitrogen may be left for the nutrition of the plant. In contrast, commercial inorganic nitrogen in the ammonia form is not readily leached from the soil. This form, however, tends to .make the soil acid. This disadvantage can be easily overcome by addition of lime to the soil.