The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1889-09-12
GATHERING THE SEA MOSS.
AN INDUSTRY FOLLOWED BY MAS
SACHUSETTS FISHERMEN.
MOSS That Grows Under water-How
observation-disclosures and Bleach
ing Ii for the Market.

" iyH'"u'h hoVNi says tnc boston cor
respondent of the New York Sun, ''ar,
covered with species of sea weed called
moss. 1t is not moss, and it bears no re-
lation to the Iceland moss, so-called. II
grows below low-water mark, and must
be raked into boats. Equipped with his
long-handled rake, the moss Singer
starts out in his dory in quest of the
appetizing sea weed, Ii he is careful
man his dory is beached high and dry
above high water mark That means a
pull of hundred feet down the beach,
for the work of gathering moss can only
be done at low tide. Along the Massa-
chusetts coast it is not necessary to go
great distance before finding the moss
banks. The lodges are being constantly
scraped, and that necessitates an occa-
sional change of territory. But it is sell
dom necessary to 90 more than a mile
from the beach which is prepared for the
bleaching process.
To novice the moss singers tactics
are very mysterious, There seems to be
no method in what he does. He rows
until he reaches the rock which
decided to operate upon. The
seldom within sight, but its peal
near the surface that vessel of g..
spectacle tonnage would be wreck
the water is smooth the rock can seen
to a distance Of several feet. Son
it is entirely covered with the mo ..
presents very attractive appearan h
the different shades of brown and .r
When the suns rays illuminate Il
it looks like veritable garden - ..
Mossers like to find such rock as that,
for the work of gathering the moss is
greatly simplified, The steel rake is
plunged into the water, drawn over the
surface of the rock, and pulled to the
surface with the long teeth filled with
the moss. This is deposited in the boat
1t is clean and all ready to be spread out
for drying. Other rocks, however, are
capped by weed which has no CONNER
cial value, the Irish moss growing; on the
lower portions of the ledge. Here the
moss gatherer has to exercise greater
care. Sometimes he drags up rakeful
of unmarketable grass, and at other
times the moss is SO badly mixed with
the grass that much time is lost in sepa-
rating the good from the bad. But it is
a blind struggle for gain. More than
half the time the moss Singer has no
idea what his rake will bring to the sur
face. 1t is easy raking when the water
is smooth, but when the boat pitches, the
lone wielder of the rake has a tough time
of it. No anchor is lowered, the con
slant shifting of the boat making that
impossible. The moss man has, there
fore, to hold the boat against wind and
wave by main strength cxerted at the end
of twenty-foot pole. Then quick work
is needed or the boat will be blown away
from the rock.
When the messing is good the men
have no trouble in filling boat at each
low tide, and at the beginning of the
season man can make two trips by
hustling. The moss adheres firmly to
the rocks, and strong pull fails to dis
lodge the roots. The stems break off and
new shoots grow rapidly. The moss
sometimes grows to nearly foot in
length, but such specimens are an cXcep-
ton. The average length is about six to
eight inches, and the coral-shaped
branches give it a bushy appearance. In
color it varies from a dark brown to
lighter shades of the same color, the
young shoots often appearing OF yellow
lsh-green hue.
The moss seems to be the breeding
place for the cookies and musscls, and
these are preyed upon by the fish On
clear days the bottom can be seen through
fifteen feet Of water, and student of
natural history could proftably spend
whole summer around this and neigh
boring lodges. The moss Singer cares
nothing for that, however. His iron
rake plunges to the bottom, sends the
fish in all directions, tears the moss from
the rocky bed, scoops up handful of
shells and star-fish at the same time, and |
bears the whole to the surface. Some |
lines luckless crab or lobster is cap |
5ured by the iron jaws. If so, he never
'eturns to his quiet home in that ledge. |
He is dumped into the moss heap to keep |
company with the shrimps and cookies
md starfsh. In spite of the mixture of |
animal and vegetable life, the moss is
'weet and clean, and is in no way eff
ected by the presence of the live bodies.
After the moss is spread nature pre-
1ares it for the market. 1t is allowed to
Try, and then it is subjected to bath of
resh water. That is the first stage in
he bleaching process. If a good shower
alls it is so much the easier for the moss
Finger, otherwise he would be obliged
o dip the moss in fresh water. At near
yall the beaches fresh water is scarce,
md the mossers are content to await the
ainfall After the moss is once dried it
makes little difference how much time
'lapses before the fresh water is applied.
The sooner it is done, of course the
quicker the moss is ready for storage.
The application of fresh water makes a
,reat change in the appearance of the
moss. The heat of the sun brings about |
chemical action, and the color changes
rom brown to pink. The moss is again
Tried and is then subjected to another
Washing which turns it to very delicate
hade of pink. Another washing
'rlngs out dirty white color, and a
orth treatment leaves it pure white, if
has been properly dried after every
Washing. When this condition is
cached the moss is ready for the market,
nd must be housed as soon as it is dried,
or another wetting would reduce it to
,elatinous moss. This would ruin it for
commercial purposes, for It's thus that the
housewife prepares it for the table, and
very woman would properly insist upon
supervising that part of the cooking.
When the moss is thoroughly bleached
ny foreign bodies can easily be detected
n the moss, for other weeds do not
hange their color, and they can readily
'e separated from the moss. Then the
moss is packed in barrels, and is ready
or shipment. The barrels hold about
20 pounds each, and the mossers find
eady sale for it on the beach at five
ents per pound Of late years the
market has been glutted, but each
eason's crop is disposed of. If the moss
Il . /