14 



California War Papers. 



grows in abundance on our coast ; this 

 species is identical with the one from 

 which the Japanese prepare their vegeta- 

 ble isinglass. Other species (G. coulteri 

 and G. cartilagineumn) exist on the coast 

 of California. 



One form of agar-agar, now so exten- 

 sively used in making culture media in 

 bacteriological work, could also be pre- 

 pared from Gelidium. 



Laver (Porphyra laciniata) is found in 

 abundance along our entire coast, but is 

 not collected, except sparingly, by Chinese, 

 although large quantities are imported by 

 orientals living in this country. Laver 

 grows abundantly in bays and near river 

 mouths. In Japan this alga is cultivated 

 and most of the crop is sun-dried. The 

 green .laver, or sea lettuce ( Viva latis- 

 sima), which is abundant on all our 

 coasts, is eaten in Scotland, and is also 

 eaten with meat or as greens by native 

 tribes of our Northwest coast. 



The giant kelp (Nereocystis lutkeana) 

 is found in great profusion on the Pacific 

 coast from southern California north- 

 ward. The natives of this coast have 

 made considerable use of this alga, while 

 curios are made from the various portions 

 of the plant and sold to tourists visiting 

 California. 



In 1906 two professors of the Univer- 

 sity of Washington invented a process 'for 

 making a product resembling citron from 

 the giant kelp. When made from the bulb 

 it was a diffic-ult matter to detect the dif- 

 ference between it and the real citron. 

 The flavor was, of course, artificial. 



Numerous species of Laminaria exist 

 on the northern part of this coast, and the 

 only use to which the plants are now put 

 is for fertilizer. Many of these could be 

 prepared in various ways as food and 

 would doubtless meet with an encouraging 

 reception if properly introduced. 



Many species of algae identical with or 

 similar to those used in Scotland, France 

 and Japan in the manufacture of iodine 

 abound on our Northwest coast, but are 

 never used for this purpose, despite the 



fact that this country is a large consumer 

 of iodine, and its preparation in crude 

 form is a comparatively simple matter. 



Nearly all marine algae contain iodine, 

 but a few have such a comparatively large 

 quantity that they are used almost exclu- 

 sively. The Atlantic kelp yields the high- 

 est percentage of iodine, while the Pacific 

 kelp yields a much higher percentage of 

 potash, five or six times as much as the 

 Atlantic kelp. 



During the extraction of iodine, algin, 

 cellulose, dextrin, mannite, potash, chlo- 

 ride of potassium, and carbonate of soda 

 are also produced. As this country im- 

 ports annually about $13,000,000 worth of 

 potash, all of which could be produced 

 from seaweed, we are criminally wasting 

 our resources. 



Several immense plants are now being 

 operated in southern California, extract- 

 ing the potash and other chemicals from 

 kelp, the latter being gathered by kelp 

 harvesters, immense barges fitted forward 

 with knives for cutting the kelp and end- 

 less belts for bringing the severed stalks 

 aboard. A couple of small plants are also 

 in operation on Puget Sound. 



As a direct fertilizer fresh seaweeds 

 have been in use for many years by farm- 

 ers living on or near the Atlantic coast, 

 but very little use has been made of it in 

 this manner on this coast. 



Owing to its large content of water the 

 total quantity of fertilizing ingredients in 

 plants is very small in proportion to the 

 weight of the material. As the plants 

 decompose rapidly, and the water sepa- 

 rates from them quickly, during which 

 operations the fertilizing constituents, 

 especially the nitrogen, wastes away in 

 the process, it is important that the plants 

 be used within as short a time as practi- 

 cable after they have been collected. 



Seaweeds have a mechanical action on 

 the soil, tending to make it friable and 

 binding its constituents together. They 

 also have an advantage over barnyard 

 manure in the freedom from seeds of land 

 weeds. 



