The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1883-02-02
Japanese Sea- Weed.

Consul Quin, writing on the trade of
Japan, mentions that considerable in
crease has lately taken place in the
exports of sea-weed, and gives in his
last report the following description of
the method in which cut sea-weed is
prepared for the market. For making
the finest cut sea-weed. the best long
sea-weed is used, the newer the better,
on account OF the color. After the
bundles are opened, they are picked,
and as much sand as possible shaken
out; the selected weed is then placed in
large boilers, and is boiled for an hour
or more, until the proper co or is OBJ
tanned, which should be quite uniform
and of good clear green. After boil
ing, the sea-weed is hung up on poles in
the air to partially dry it. after which it
is again carefully sorted. and all ragged
pieces and those of pale whit sh
color are rejected; the selected weed is
then handed over to number of wo-
men, who open it out and roll it into fiat
coils of about ten pounds each. As
soon as these coils have remained long
enough to tlatten the sea-weed, they are
uncoiled, and the pieces of weed are
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board little over four feet long, to the
depth of eight to ten inches; they are
then cut into four lengths of thirteen
inches each, and these pieces are tied
into bundles ready for the workm n to
lay in the presses, which, are about six
feet wide, thirteen inches deep (the
len tn OF the pieces of sea-weed), and
six fe( high. At the bottom a row of
wooden Stats, about two inches and a
half broad, half an inch thick and
thirteen in hes long, are placed edge
ways, and upon these the weed is laid
care u ly piece by piece in the frame,
the sides of which are kept
in position by rope stretching
across the top; a movable plank
at the back, which is raised
as the workman proceeds, keeps the
weed thoroughly even. When the
to one press-a similar lot of Stats to
those at the bottom are pla ed on the
| top of the sea-weed, and the whole is
pressed as tight as possible, by means
of rough ca stan, to get rid of all I'M
necessary moisture, and to render the
mass firm enough for cutting. The
frame is then laid down fiat; and one of
the side planks being removed, the
| compressed weed is planed with an or
binary car enters plane, set so as to
cut it to the required thickness-about
one-twentieth of an inch--along the
edges and with the grain. The object
of the Stats is to enable the workman to
rlane the edges, and they are removed
one by one as he progresses with his
work. Each man can plane, on an
average. one hundred and seventy
ounds of sea weed per day. After
planning, the cut sea-weed is taken out
of doors and shaken out to dry on mats;
under favorable cir umstances, one day
is sufficient for this operation, but it
fire. .uently happens that as many
as three days are required before
it is dry enough to pack away. After
the final d.. ying, the weed is ready for
the market, and is packed away in
boxes containing about sixty-six pounds
each. The rejected ends OF the first
class sea-weed are used up, together
with ordinary long sea weed of an in
ferior quality, to make cut sea-weed of
a lower class. While undergoing the
various processes, the material loses
twenty per cent. in weight, and that
fact, joined to the price of the labor ex-
pended in its manufacture, brings the
cost to more than double the erage of
long sea weed. Scientific AqnericGm.