UTILIZATION OF THE FISH WASTE OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN". 63 



improvements in the machine will not reduce the cost of cutting. 

 Certain features of the present method of operation are objection- 

 ible. But these almost certainly will disappear when a fuller expe- 

 ience shall have pointed them out and the means of circumventing 

 ;hem. Cutters of other forms and modifications of the present cutter 

 lave been designed and patented. Conspicuous among these are 

 nachines ascribed to S. A. Knapp (U. S. Patent No. 756,658) and 

 George H. Ennis (U. S. Patent No. 1,080,144). In spite of its 

 imperfections, the kelp cutter now in operation must be regarded as 

 an unqualified solution of the problem of the economical harvesting 

 of kelp. 



The chopped kelp may be unloaded at the dock by an elevator such 

 as that recommended for unloading cannery waste. In fact, the iden- 

 tical elevator may be employed in the same manner as in unloading 

 the other class of material. 



The drying of such materials as fish pomace, a class in which kelp 

 likewise may be included, has been discussed in foregoing para- 

 graphs. It should suffice to say here that from a priori considera- 

 tions, as well as the results gotten so far in actual experimentation 

 with kelp in the large-sized, hot-air drier and on a semicommercial 

 scale, this type of drier seems entirely adapted to the drying of kelp. 



Since, under Atlantic coast conditions, fish pomace containing 

 55 to 60 per cent water may be dried in the direct-heat rotary drier 

 at a cost of about 50 cents per dry ton, it seems reasonable to believe 

 that it should be possible to dry kelp, containing 85 to 90 per cent 

 water, at a cost of $1 per dry ton. After drying it may be found 

 desirable to grind the kelp for mixing. Dry kelp, especially when 

 hot, is quite brittle and grinds easily. 



Frye, in his work on Alaskan kelps, has shown that the leaves of 

 Nereocystis yield 9.2 per cent solids and the stems 7.2 per cent, and 

 that the Macrocystis, stems and leaves together, yields 13.27 per cent 

 solids. Alaria jlstulosa produces 13.74 per cent solids. These results 

 were obtained by weighing specimens immediately on being taken 

 from the water while they were still wet with sea water. On the 

 basis of these values and the analyses given in the foregoing tables 

 the following calculations have been made, showing the yield in 

 various constituents to be expected from a definite weight of freshly 

 cut kelp : 



Table XIII. — Yield in various constituents to be expected from 1,000 tons of 

 freshly cut Macrocystis and Alaria. 



Variety of kelp. 



Wet 

 kelp. 



Dry 



kelp. 



K 2 0. 



N. 





Tons. 

 1,000 

 1,000 



Tons. 

 132 

 137 



Tons. 

 25.3 

 13.3 



Tons. 





3.6 





