56 BULLETIN 150, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



islands and circuitous fiords and arms, of the sea. While the length 

 of the shore line, relatively speaking, is enormous, the actual dis- 

 tances from point to point are not great. Thus the entire area 

 of this portion of territory is about 25,500 square miles, which is 

 about the area of the States of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massa- 

 chusetts. 1 Of the amount of kelp surveyed, groves containing 

 2.880,000 tons are regarded as easily available, the availability being 

 estimated on the basis of quietness of water and freedom from rocks 

 and other obstructions to navigation. 



The kelp of this region has been grouped around eight centers, 

 which are: 



1. Port Mc Arthur, near the south end of Kuiu Island. 



2. Shakan Bay, on Sumner Strait. 



3. Tyee, near Point Gardner. 



4. Duke Island, possibly inside the Vegas Islands. 



5. Saginaw Bay, at the north end of Kuiu Island. 



6. Warren Cove, on Warren Island. 



7. Barrier Island, between Cape Chacon and Cape Muzon. 



8. Bay of Pillars, on Chatham Strait. 



These points have been selected by Prof. Frye from the viewpoint 

 of amounts of available kelp and convenience of harbor. 



In this region, as well in western Alaska, large and heavy groves 

 of Atari a fstulosa occur. This is a kelp which attains great size, 

 but carries only a small proportion of potash. Its nitrogen content 

 is correspondingly high, but not high enough to make it of equal 

 commercial importance with the other two species. 



The kelps of western Alaska so far mapped (by Prof. G. B. Rigg, 

 of the University of Washington, during the summer of 1913) con- 

 tain about 3,500,000 tons of green kelp, the estimate being based on 

 the supposition that the kelp would be cut about 5 feet beneath the 

 surface. The species included are both Nereocystis and Alaria. " Of 

 this, 1,251,200 tons are in beds of pure Nereocystis; 1,457,300 tons are 

 in beds of mixed Nereocystis and Alaria. 2 



Large kelp beds are within easy reach of the harbors of Port 

 Graham, Seldovia, Kodiak, and Alitak, on Olga Bay. 



COMPOSITION. 



The composition of the kelps here is considered only from the point 

 of view of their fertilizer value. In the following tables are given 

 the respective composition of a number of samples of Nereocystis 



1 From the report of Dr. T. C. Frye on the Kelps of Southeastern Alaska, Rept. 100, 

 U. S. Dept. of Agr., Part IV. 



2 G. B. Rigg, report on the Kelps of Western Alaska, ibid., Part V. 



