REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 95 



with the profitable exploitation of this waste material are the cost 

 of transportation, the absence of harbors, and the uncertainty attend- 

 ing the landing and loading of equipment and products. To this 

 matter, to which considerable attention has already been given, the 

 Bureau will devote still further effort looking to the conduct of the 

 work either by private firms imder contract or by governmental 

 agency. 



A valuable legacy of the old times, when 5,000,000 pounds of seal 

 carcasses were frequently allowed to rot on the killing grounds in a 

 single year, is the accumulation of bones. No use was ever made of 

 this important fertilizer, and it has remained for the past year to 

 record the first attempt to secure the commercial utilization of seal 

 bones. 



The Bureau has conducted considerable preliminary work to 

 determine the extent and value of the seal^bone accumulations, 

 and has interested numerous individuals and firms in the matter. 

 In the summer of 1916 a considerable quantity of bones was collected 

 and sent down on the supply ship; and samples of this shipment in 

 lots of 50 to 300 pounds were, on request, sent to various persons for 

 examination. An analysis made by the Bureau of Soils, Department 

 of Agriculture, showed that these bones, some of the samples of 

 which were from seals killed many years ago, have valuable fertilizing 

 properties, containing from 24.85 to 25.26 per cent of phosphoric acid 

 and from 4.57 to 4.80 per cent of nitrogen. A report received from 

 the islands indicated that the bone deposits actually in sight repre- 

 sent about 6,000 tons, with a number oi killing grounds not included; 

 and it has become apparent that, notwithstanding the skepticism and 

 scoffing of certain persons who had formerly been on the islands, 

 there exists in these bones a valuable resource which should be put 

 on the market, especially at this time when the supply of fertilizers 

 has been reduced by the war. 



Some of the bones, resulting from the most recent killings, are on 

 the surface, but most of them have become overgrown with grass and 

 are covered with earth and sand. During the past year the natives 

 have been employed, at such time as their other labors would pennit, 

 in collecting bones. Owing to the frozen state of the ground, the 

 work of gathering bones is mostly confined to the period from May 

 to November. This coincides with the active sealing season when 

 every able-bodied native must devote considerable time, and some of 

 them all the time, to sealing operations, the landing of supplies, the 

 shipment of skins, and occasionally to important construction work. 

 For these reasons the quantity of bones that would otherv^ise have been 

 available in the season of 1917 was curtailed, but nevertheless several 

 hundred tons were gotten ready and will be shipped as opportunity 

 is offered. The poor roads on the islands hinder the transportation 

 of bones from the deposits to the villages, but the situation is being 

 improved, and a light motor-truck equipment is being provided to 

 facilitate this work. Bone crushers have been sent to the islands so 

 that bones may be ground and thus be put in compact form to save 

 space in transportation. 



After considerable correspondence and negotiation with various 

 persons and companies in regard to the utilization of the bone deposits 

 on the Pribilof Islands, the Bureau early in July, 1917, accepted an 

 offer made by a Seattle firm to pay $30 per ton for 300 tons or less 



