Nov., 1918] Recovery of Vegetation at Kodiak 



55 



In places sheltered from the -wind, erosion by water has 

 proceeded so rapidly that where the land is at all steep (and 

 Kodiak is a very rugged country) , nearly all of the ash has been 

 washed away. On the average grass-covered mountain sides, 

 the present covering of ash amounts to only an inch or two and 

 this is so mixed with plant stems and roots as to form a very 

 indefinite layer. Erosion has proceeded so rapidly that even 

 now it appears almost incredible to a stranger that the ash stood 

 a foot deep only four years ago. I should hesitate to believe 



Photograph by R. F. Griggs 



LUPINE SEEDLINGS. 



These have come up thickly in the plowed field shown on pages 32 and 33. They 



did not start until practically all the ash had blown off, just 



enough now remains to conceal the soil beneath. 



it myself if I had not seen it with my own eyes. Within a 

 century, volcanic ash will become almost as much of a curiosity 

 at Kodiak as it is at other places. Long before any such period 

 has elapsed it will be difficult to secure enough for a good 

 specimen, except from a few special places. 



Another factor, which is tending to destroy the identity of 

 the ash as a separate layer, is the action of earthworms. The 

 importance of these animals in ordinary soils is too well known 



