244 ANNUAL KEPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 



PROSPECTUS OF VALUE OF PRODUCTS OBTAINABLE FROM 100 TONS PER DAY 



RAW KELP. 



Potassium chloride, 95 per cent : 



2.5 tons=150 units at $2 $300 



Or 150 units at $2.50^ $375 



or 2.5 tons chemical grade at $250 per ton C25 



Salt, NaCl, 95 per cent: 



1 ton at $25 25 



Iodine, resublimed : 



20 pounds at $4 80 



Ammonia, ammonium sulphate, 95 per cent : 



400 pounds NH3 or 1,600 pounds (NtDsSO* at $4 per hundredweight., 64 



Or aqua ammonia 26 at 5 cents . $60 



Bleaching carbon, Norit grade: 



1 ton, 2,000 pounds, at 5 cents. 100 



Or 2,000 pounds at 15 cents $300 



Or 2,000 pounds at 25 cents 500 



Total per day 569 



25 days per month at $569 14, 225 



Or, per year : . 170, 700 



Attention is called to the fact indicated by this prospectus that 

 with potash selling at $2.50 per unit this plant could be made self- 

 supporting on the basis of potash alone. 



We have set ourselves the task of realizing this prophecy, with 

 the exception of the production and sale of ammonia, within the 

 current fiscal year. Since it is believed that profit can be shown with- 

 out ammonia, in vicAv of the limited funds at our disposal for the 

 current year and the expense (in materials, labor, and especially in 

 time lost) in experimentation with retort furnaces, and since the 

 full retort capacity will be needed for the production of bleaching 

 carbon, it would appear to be wise to proceed with all dispatch to 

 putting the plant on a producing basis with respect to potash, salt, 

 carbon, and iodine, and to look to these for proceeds and profits. We 

 believe that with these alone we can show a profit by the end of the 

 year and that this fact should justify the acceptance of our recom- 

 mendation that the enterprise be continued and enlarged until it can 

 show whether or not the various other by-products now under in- 

 vestigation can be commercialized and likewise whether or not the 

 process here employed is the most economical one. 



In this connection it should be recalled that at the time the initial 

 authorization Avas enacted three processes were under consideration; 

 namely, (1) the destructive distillation of kelp, the process now 

 under successful development here; (2) the fermentation of kelp; 

 and (3) the manipulation of kelp to yield feed materials and potash. 

 The second of these was subsequentl}^ tested on a magnificent scale 

 by a powder company, at the expense of several millions of dollars, 

 full details of which are now in our possession and will be made a 

 part of the department's records. The third remains to be developed, 

 but preliminary experiments, both here and in France (the latter as 

 a war-time investigation to develop a new source of feed for army 

 horses), strongly indicate that it is entirely feasible while obtaining 

 potash, to prepare a cattle feed in nutritive value of about the grade 

 of oats. 



It is the purpose, then, during the year now beginning, to em- 

 phasize production and to bend especial effort toward the produc- 



