e GEORGE V SESSIONAL PAPER No. 38a A. 1916 



III. 



THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF THE KELP-BEDS OF THE CANADIAN 

 PACIFIC COAST.— A PRELIMINARY REPORT AND SURVEY OF 



THE BEDS. 



By a. T. Cameron, M.A., B.Sc. 



Assistant Professor of Physiology and Physiological Chemistry, University of 



Manitoba, Winnipeg. 



(With Three Charts.) 



Kelps and other seaweeds have been extensively used for a long period as ferti- 

 lizers. In the British Isles, Norway, and the coast of Brittany, and along the Atlantic 

 coast of Canada and the New England coast they are collected, when washed ashore 

 during storms, and spread as manures without further treatment.' The Pacific kelps 

 are also used to a slight extent in the Western States in the same way. 



Iodine was for a long time prepared commercially in considerably quantity in 

 Scotland from various species of seaweed. Its preparation as a by-product in the 

 nitre industry has caused the original industry to languish; little iodine is now pre- 

 pared from seaweed. 



The principal fertilizing constituents of seaweeds are potassium chloride and 

 phosphates. Direct application to the soil involves the loss of iodine, one of the most 

 valuable constituents. 



The control of the world's supply of potassium has within recent years been held 

 by the Stassfurt Potash Syndicate, which completely controls the German mines, and 

 which has dictated both the annual supply, and the price to be paid for it. This price 

 has not diminished, there being a steadily increasing demand. 



The outbreak of the present war has emphasized this dependence on Germany for 

 potash supplies. The source is at present cut off. Other sources must be sought for. 

 The market quotation for raw potassium chloride held steadily at $39.07 for m^any 

 months previous to August 1914, when the year began. There is no quotation for 

 September. 



In addition to its use as a fertilizer, potash is required for many other purposes. 

 A recent quotation from Science'' dealing with the effect of the war, reads : " Potash 

 salts are employed in many industries other than the fertilizer industry. A large 

 amount is used in glass and soap making and in the manufacture of a number of 

 chemical products. These include potassium hydrate, or caustic potash, and the 

 carbonate and bicarbonate of potash, used principally in glass and soap making; the 

 potash alums ; cyanide, including potassium cyanide, potassium ferrocyanide, and 

 potassium ferricyanide ; various potash bleaching chemicals, dyestuffs, explosives 

 containing potassium nitrate, and a long list of general chemicals. The imports of 

 potash salts, listed as such in the reports of 'the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic 

 Commerce, include the carbonate, cyanide, chloride, nitrate, and sulphate, caustic 

 potash, and other potash compounds." 



1 An account of the present ytilization of kelp in the United Kingdom is given in the United 

 States Consular and Trade Report, Tuesday, June 9, 1914, pp. 1402-5 (Bureau of Foreign and 

 Domestic Commerce, Department of Commerce, Washington). 



2 Science, August 28, 1914, vol. 40, p. 310. 



