210 The Philippine Journal of Science 1917 
been burned. The fires had apparently not killed any of the 
clumps of Saccharum spontaneum as, except in the most recently 
burnt areas, the clumps were producing new leaves. However, 
many trees, particularly the smaller ones, had been killed. Owing 
to this fact, it seems not improbable that trees may have been 
somewhat more numerous before fires of any considerable ex- 
tent occurred on the island, than at the present time. Such trees 
could hardly have formed closed stands, as such stands kill the 
grass and fires do not bum through them. If fires continue to 
be prevalent on the island, it is probable that the grass areas 
at the northern end of the island will persist instead of being 
invaded by trees. 
Soils derived from volcanic activity are usually very fertile, 
but the value of recent volcanic ejecta as a substratum for 
plants varies greatly. In some cases volcanic ash appears to 
produce a rich soil almost immediately. A conspicuous ex- 
ample of this is found in the region around the settlement of 
Kodiak, Alaska, which was covered nearly a foot deep with ash 
by the eruption of Mount Katmai in June, 19 12.^® The effect of 
the ash as described by Griggs is as follows: 
The most important settlement in the devastated district is Kodiak, which, 
although a hundred miles from the volcano, was buried nearly a foot deep 
in ash. This ashy blanket transformed the “Green Kodiak” of other days 
into a gray desert of sand, whose redemption and revegetation seemed 
utterly hopeless. When I first visited it, a year later, it presented an ap- 
pearance barren and desolate. It seemed to every one there that it must be 
many years before it could recover its original condition. 
What, then, was my surprise on returning after an interval of only two 
years to find the ash-laden hillsides covered with verdure. Despite the 
reports I had received, I could not believe my eyes. Where before had been 
barren ash was now rich grass as high as one’s head. 
Every one agrees that the eruption was “the best thing that ever hap- 
pened to Kodiak.” In the words of our hotel keeper, “Never was any such 
grass known before, so high or so early. No one ever believed the country 
could grow so many berries, nor so large, before the ash.” 
The above description certainly indicates that the ash thrown 
out by the eruption of Mount Katmai produced a very different 
substratum fVom that formed by the eruption of Taal Volcano. 
The effect, on the growth of plants, of the ash thrown out by 
the eruption of the Soufriere in St. Vincent in 1902 was very 
different from the case just described and more like that of Taal. 
Griggs, R. F., The valley of ten thousand smokes, National Geographic 
Magazine 31 (1917) 13. 
