The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1873-07-12
The Moss Business
From the New Orleans Times

From the New Orleans Times.l
Among the many articles of commerce
furnished by nature, unaided by man,
III this semltr0plcal climate of ours, is
moss. This long luxuriant parasite
clothes and festoOns the trees with it's
dull gray drappery all over the woods
same humidity and warmth in the at
mosphere which deprives man of the
will to work, foster and nourish the
growth of this strange plant, and thus
affords him if he would avail himself of
the opportunities, an easy way Of MAX
ing a living. The supply of moss in u
forests is simply ineXhaustible. There
are trees loaded down with it standing
on thousands of square miles in this
State ; and even when the tree is de-
nuded of this Weird-like garb, in
less than a year it comes out in a dress
as ample as that Of which it has been
stripped. The waters of all our swamps
are filled with it, where it has dropped
from the trees, and lies rotting, ungath-
cred and uncared for. The whole coun-
try where this O grows is accessible
to any one DESTROYS of turning it to ac-
count. Bayous and streams, nav
igable for large boats, intersect
the woods and swamps where it
grows, i'll every direction. But strange
to say, this moss interest, which might
be made so great here, is sadly neglect
ed, although it presents so man. induce
ments to those who are DESTROYS of
gaining an honest livelihood.
HOW HI NOS MEN GATHER H SPOIL.
Most of them with that prOdigality
and wastefulness which are part Of the
nature OF our people cut the trees down
to gather the moss on them, and thus
killthe goose which lays the golden eggs,
without wen eating the goose, for they
leave the timber of the tree to rot where
it lies after stripping it of it's SOmbre
covering. But some of them are more
economical, and have an eye to future
wants more properly climb the trees
among the moss, which they gather off
the limbs and throw to the ground in a
pile. These heaps are left standing for
some time, and the rain with the dews
thoroughly saturating them, they I'M
dergO a species of sweating" like to-
bacco, which rOts off the grey covering
and leaves the black tibrous horse hair
like material which is the moss of com
merce. This is usually transported
to market in flats and boats Of the
sWamps. 1t is packed up near the place
of curing in rude bales with rope ties.
When it arrives in New Orleans it
passes under the manipulation of moss
pickeries and through the machinery of
gins, after which it is pressed into bales,
under steam pressure, bound with neat
iron ties, andl is then ready for shipment.
| The men who gather this moss usually
| live on the banks and islands of the
bayOus which lead through the swamps.
Most of those at present engaged in it
are Germans and Creoles, who live very
comfortably OIL the spots of high land
which are found almost everywhere in
the swamp country of Louisiana. They
prepare their moss in rather q rough
manner to be sold advantageously in
| the New Orleans market, but there the
country moss" is nearly always re-
handled and refined as it were by the
EXPORTERS OF LOUISIANA MOSS.
There are at present only a few firms
great extent in the article. After the
necessary preparation is made with the
rough material those parties find no
difficulty in selling their moss in the
Northern markets. The difficulty some
of them have had to contend against at
times is the want Of freight room for an
article Of bulk as compared with other
freights. The gin used by the exporters
was invented and afterward improved
on for the special purpose of moss clean
ing. The inventors were two energetic
young machinists Of New Orleans, who
have been engaged i'll the business for
/ several years, and were the first to start
it on an extensive scale. This gin cards
| appliance attached to clear away the
| dirt from the article, thus making it
more saleable. There are only two or
three gins OF this kind at present in the
city, all of which are kept steadily en-
| plOyed, and there is work for more.
The finer articles of mo- shipped from
this port form a very good substitute
for horse hair in stufing furniture, ETC.,
while all the grades are eagerly bought
up by mattrass makers throughout the
country. The demand for this article
is much greater than the supply, and if
the small shipments made can furnish
an index as to what the business would
be on d larger scale, this is a very i'm
portant interest for our State, which is
the only one in the South where the pro-
duct grows in such profitable album
dance.
H COMPARATIVE VALUE OF 0 AND
CULTIVATED PRODUCTS.
The market value of moss is very va
riable, but the better grades average
| aDOuU S1A JULIUS pei pOuIlu LII OuE IudEk6US
this is rather under the market than
otherwise. There is nc reason why all
the moss should not be cured so as to
be elastic and black, for like other
things, it only needs a little attention
to make it SO, and a little more time to
bring it to a higher state of perfection.
With care in handling it thus, it could
be sold for six cents per pound. 1t
grows on land that is worth absolutely
nothing for anything else, and of which
thousands of acres could be bought for
a dollar an acre. 1t grows without Gull
~tivatiOn, only requiring to be harvest
ed, while, singular to say, the same
moisture in the atmosphere which f0s-
ters its growth, after the harvesting
prepares it for market. With a trihing
ginning expense it is worth six cents
per pound. There are millions of acres
of it in this State, which have hun
dreds Of millions of pounds hanging on
the trees above them.
Sugar lands are bought at an enOr-
nous cost, with works Oh them that
keep an enormous amount of capital
idle nine months in the year, and the
sugar produced by all this laying out
of money in buying lands, working,
harvesting, and machinery, sells for
about an average of eight cents per
pound in this State. Cotton, almost as
expensive rs sugar in every respect ex-
cept harvesting, requiring an immense
capital also, picked, and with two-thirds
of its weight knocked off for the seed,
SELLS for abOu sixteen cents nnr uOun6