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economic uses of the kelps. Other papers are "The kelps of the 

 central Calif ornian coast" (Appendix M, pp. 194-208) by Pro- 

 fessor Frank M. McFarland; "The kelps of the southern 

 Californian coast" (Appendix N, pp. 209-213) by Captain W. C. 

 Crandall; "Brief notes on the kelps of Alaska" (Appendix O, 

 pp. 214-216), by Edward C. Johnston; "The technology of the 

 seaweed industry" (Appendix Q, pp. 232-262), by Dr. J. W- 

 Turrentine; "A discussion of the probable food value of the 

 marine algae" (Appendix R, pp. 263-270), by Dr. C. L. Alsberg; 

 and two bibliographical lists of anonymous authorship. Eleven 

 of the nineteen plates attached to this Senate Document show 

 habit photographs of various Pacific coast kelps; two photo- 

 graphs of Nereocystis, in situ, are especially striking. The nine- 

 teen maps show the position and extent of the kelp beds of the 

 Puget Sound region and of the southern half of the coast of 

 California. Some of the kelp beds, especially those of the 

 perennial Macrocystis, are so dense as to afford some protection 

 for certain harbors, acting as natural breakwaters, and it has been 

 objected that the cutting away of these masses of kelp might 

 endanger the safety of such harbors. To this objection the reply 

 is made that the harbor of Santa Barbara, California, is probably 

 the only one that might suffer in this way, and that any such 

 undesirable effects of harvesting the kelps for their potash 

 could probably be obviated by attention to the time and manner 

 of cutting. It is of interest to observe, as already announced 

 in the news columns of Scie?ice and of Torreya, that during the 

 present summer the Bureau of Soils is extending its detailed 

 surveys of the Pacific kelp groves to Alaska. 



Marshall A. Howe 



