St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1889-08-31
About Spanish Moss.

A great mauy of our readers have visited
the Gulf coast region and have written
hundreds of letters trying to describe the
beautiful and weird appearance OF the
gray moss that hangs in festoons from
every tree. No one with any eye to beauty
can pass through that section. even ON
cannon BALI train, and not be impressed
with the beauty of the woodland scenery
The moss-called Spanish moss simply
because the government of Spain held that
section of country until Tennessean with
a hickory" back bone assumed the re-
sponsibility" and captured Pensacola-ls
not only curiosity to visitors from the
Middle and Northern States, but is an ar
tic!e Of commerce of no mean Importance.
The lady of fashion, who reclines on the
costliest divan, owes part of her comfort
to the moss that festoons the Gulf coast
trees. The tired mechanic who takes his
nightly rest on a mattress in boarding
house, has moss for his bed and pillows
The "get there, Eli" drummer, who, to
serve his firms interest, has often to
hasten pell NELL over rough country roads
in weak spring vehicles, never thinks that
the only comfort he enjoys comes from the
soft cushions and easy backs of the vehl-
cles, filed with moss that grows upon the
trees that are famed by the soft breeZes
from the Gulf of Mexico.
But this gray moss must go through
long tedious process before it is fitted
for my lady's boudoir. the mechanics bed,
or the drummers cushion. Lately i'm
proved processes are used for it's prepare
ton. The regular correspondent OF the
Southern Lumbernaan at New Orleans says:
The woods in Louisiana are full of moss,
which fer years past has been consider
able article of trade in New Orleans. The
gathering of moss gives employment to
great number of persons throughout the
State, particularly to negroes. The gath
erers of green moss heap it into piles, wet
it and weight it down with earth or logs,
and the heat generated by the decaylng
bark surrounding the fiber hastens the
process of curing, and in two or three
months, according to the varying seasons,
the decomposition is complete. The moss
is then turned out and dried, cleaned by
hand of sticks and dirt, and then shipped
to New Orleans. Live oak moss so cured
is said to be the best, and when moss is
well cured and picked by natural means
it is said to be preferred to moss cured by
means of chemicals. The city moss gins
purchase their supplies in the open mar
ket here. The demand for moss is lncreas
ing every year, and there are now quite a
number of factories in this city as well as
the environing country. There are over
sixty firms handling moss in this city,
several large steam ginneries, and several
other factories, which work over the rough
moss and turn it out like hair. The pro-
cess of working over moss by machinery
is improving every year. In passing the
moss through gins there is loss of about
forty per cent. in the weight. The moss
is turned out from the gins in neat look
ing bales, branded according to quality,
and shipped to all parts of the United
States and even to Europe. New Orleans
receives annually about 10000 bales of
moss, valued at nearly quarter of mil
hon of dollars. Fully one half of the moss
received here is re- handled by the city
moss gins, and the remainder is sold or
shipped in the condition it is landed here.
The receipts last year comprised about
%, 900 bales, against $4,000 the year be-
fore. Gray moss commands about one to
one and one half ceRts per pound, mixed
and three-fourths to two and one-fourth
cents, and pure black two and one-half to
three cents A good article, will, however,
frequently bring outside figures, as it has
the preference at one-fourth to one-half
cent more. Machine cleaned moss brings
from four to seven cents, and is used for
making the best grades of mattresses, up
holstering furniture, and for carriage cush-
ions, etc.