The harvester cuts 40 tons of
kelp at a load]
[Illustration: THE KELP HARVESTER GATHERING THE SEAWEED FROM THE
PACIFIC OCEAN]
[Illustration: Courtesy of Hercules Powder Co.
OVERHEAD SUCTION AT THE SAN DIEGO WHARF PUMPING KELP FROM THE BARGE TO
THE DIGESTION TANKS]
The tourist going through Wyoming on the Union Pacific will have to the
north of him what is marked on the map as the "Leucite Hills." If he
looks up the word in the Unabridged that he carries in his satchel he
will find that leucite is a kind of lava and that it contains potash.
But he will also observe that the potash is combined with alumina and
silica, which are hard to get out and useless when you get them out. One
of the lavas of the Leucite Hills, that named from its native state
"Wyomingite," gives fifty-seven per cent. of its potash in a soluble
form on roasting with alunite--but this costs too much. The same may be
said of all the potash feldspars and mica. They are abundant enough, but
until we find a way of utilizing the by-products, say the silica in
cement and the aluminum as a metal, they cannot solve our problem.
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