The Opelousas courier., 1889-10-26
GATHERING LIE SEA MOSS.
AN INDUSTRY F0LLOWEDIlY MAS
SACdUSETTS FISHERMEN.

ASSi'SiINiSHb VI liIS 1'ih 'JAfj olS
covered with q species of sea weed called
moss. 1t is not moss, and it bears no re-
lation to the Iceland moss, so-cailed. 1t
grows below low-water mark, and must
be raked into boats. Equipped with his
long-handlcd rake, the moss singer
starts out in his dory in quest of the
appctizing sea weed. Ii he is Il careful
man his dory is bcached high and dry
above high water mark. That means q
pull Of a 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 60 q
great distance before finding the moss
banks. The lodges are being constantly
scrapcd, and that necessitates an occa-
sional change of territory. But it is sell
dom necessary to 60 more than a mile
from the beach which is prepared for the
bleaching process.
To a 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 he has
decided to operate upon. The rock is
seldom within sight, but its peak is SO
near the surface that u vessel of any re-
spectacle tonnage would be wrecked. If
the water is smooth the rock can be seen
to a distance of several feet. Sometimes
it is entirely covered with the moss, and
presents a very attractive appearance with
the different shades of brown and green.
J When the suns rays illuminate the mass
it looks like a ycritable garden spot.
Mosscrs like to find such a 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 filed with
the moss. This is deposited in the boat
It is clean and all ready to be spread oub
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 a rakeful
of u~nmarketable 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 ne
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 cons
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 cxcrted at the end
Of a 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 nc trouble in filing a boat at each
low tide, and at the beginning of the
season a man can make two trips by
hustling. The moss adheres firmly to
the rocks, and a strong pull fails to dis
lodge the roots. The stems break off and
new shoots grow rapidly. The moss
sometimes grows to nearly a foot in
length, but such specimens are an excep-
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 brownie
lighter shades of the same color, the
young shoots often appearing of Yellow
ish-green hue.
The moss seems to be the breeding
place for the cookies and mussels, and
these are preyed upon by the fish. On
clear days the bottom can be seen through
fifteen feet of water, and a student of
natural history could profitably spend a
whole summer around this and neigh !
boring lodges. The moss singer cares
nothing for that, however. His iron
rake plungcs to the bottom, sends the
fish in all directions, tears the moss from
the rocky bed, scoops up a handful of
shells and star-fish at the same time, and
bears the whole to the surface. Some
times a iuckless crab or lobster is cap
tured by the iron jaws. If so, he never
returns to his quiet home in that ledge.
He IS dumped into the moss heap to keep
company with the shrimps and cookies
and startish. In spite of the mixture of
animal and vegetable life, the moss is
sweet and clean, and is in no way eff
fected by the presence of the live bodies.
After the moss is spread nature pre-
pares it for the market. 1t is allowed to
dry, and then it is subjected to a bath of
fresh water. That is the first stage in
the bleaching process. If a good shower
falls it is so much the easier for the moss
singer, otherwise he would be obliged
to dip the moss in fresh water. AT near
lyall tho beaches fresh water is scarce,
the mossers are content to await the
rainfall. After the moss is once dried it
makes little difference how much time
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
great change in the appearance of the
moss. The heat of the sun brings about
o chemical action, and the color changes
brown to pink. The moss is again
dried and is then subjected to another
washing which turns it to a very delicate
shade of pink. Another washing
brings out a dirty white color, and q
forth treatment leaves it a pure white, if
it has been properly dried after every
washing. When this condition is
reached the moss isready for the market,
and must be housed as soon as it is dried.
fer another wetting would reduce it to a
gelatinous moss. This would ruin it for
purposes, for it is thus that the
housewife prepares it for the table, and
every woman would properly insist upon