BULLETIN OF THE 
No. 2 
Contribution from the Bureau of Soils, Milton Whitney, Chief. 
December 27, 1913. 
THE FISH-SCRAP FERTILIZER INDUSTRY OF THE 
ATLANTIC COAST. 
By J. W. TUKRENTINE, 
Scientist in Soil Laboratory Investigations. 
PURPOSE OF THE INVESTIGATION. 
The present investigation forms a part of the general plan of the 
Bureau of Soils to survey the Nation's assets in fertilizer materials. 
The three elements which constitute the essential ingredients of 
most of the artificial fertilizers compounded and marketed in this 
country are phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen. The former two 
occur in nature as the salts of phosphoric acid and potassium, re- 
spectively. The investigation of the Nation's resources in these, 
therefore, has had to do with the examination of known deposits and 
exploration for new. In this connection and under the direction of 
the Bureau of Soils, the phosphate fields of South Carolina, Ten- 
nessee, Florida, Utah, Idaho, Arkansas, and Kentucky have been 
surveyed by W. H. Waggaman ; x the desert basins and certain saline 
lakes of Oregon, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada have 
been examined by E. E. Free, 2 in collaboration with J. G. Young 
and A. K. Merz, to determine the occurrence of potassium salts 
therein; W. H. Koss 3 has studied the decomposition of the feldspars 
with a view to the liberation therefrom of the combined potash; 
Waggaman 4 has investigated the decomposition of alunite and the 
extraction of potash therefrom; W. C. Crandall, 5 G. B. Rigg, 6 and 
F. M. McFarland, 7 have surveyed certain of the kelp groves of the 
Pacific coast to determine the amounts of those potash carriers avail- 
able, while the writer has determined the potash content of a number 
of these sea plants collected from the coast of California, Washing- 
ton, and Alaska; 8 the behavior of kelps when subjected to destructive 
1 Buls. Nos. 69, 76, and 81, Bureau of Soils, U. S. Dept. of Agr. 
2 Circ. No. 61, Bureau of Soils, TJ. S. Dept. of Agr., and a manuscript not yet published. 
8 Circ. No. 71, and a manuscript not yet published. 
* Circ. No. 70, Bureau of Soils, U. S. Dept. of Agr. 
5 " Fertilizer Resources of the United States." Sen. Doc. 190, 62d Cong., 2d sess., 
1912; Appen. N, p. 209. 
Ibid., Appen. L, p. 179. 
7 Ibid., Appen. M, p. 194. 
•Turrentine, ibid., Appen. P, p. 217, The Composition of Kelps. 
5781°— 13 1 
