Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-03-14
AN OCEAN HARVEST.
GATHERING SEA-wEED ON THE
BRITISH COAST.
An Occupation I'm Which Thousands
Of People Are Engagcd-Burr,-
ing the Weed Into IIeIp
= Its Commercial Uses.

By far the larger portion Of the sea- weed
harvest along the coasts of Scotland, Ire
land and adjoining islands comes ashore
in the early spring and in the late fall.
The fall harvest, together with that which
winter adds, is suffered in most localities
to lie untouched on the beach until it has
been carried out to sea again and lost
forever. 1t is only the spring crop which
receives special care. Thousands OF
women and children, and small sprin-
king of men, may be seen flocking to the
beach during the month of May, armed
with rakes aud wheelbarrows, or driving
low carts, whose wheels are made broad
enough to prevent their sinking in the
sand. The wet weeds are raked into
piles, and carried either by barrow or
cart to conveniently safe distance from
the waters edge. Usually sheltered
nook is chosen, if near ut hand, and in
it is stored great mass of the weed.
Here it is left to dry under the summers
hot sun, meanwhile eXhaling odors Of no
dainty description. There are well-re.
cognized liberties and restrictions in re-
gard to sea- weed accorded to landlords
and peasantry who dwell along the shore.
The landlords have most of the liberties,
while the peasants enjoy the restrictions.
Conflicts of sea-wced rights have been
known to occur, in which cases the shil-
lalah has had an important share in the
gathering of the crop.
When the weed is dry-that is, in the
latter part Of July and the first of August
the owners Of the sca-weed heaps I'M
dertakc to burn them into kelp. This
burning is done in the crudest and most
wastcful manner. Shallow pits, often
dug right i'll the sand, are filled with
weed and the mass ignited. Upon the
first charge fre.h quantities of weed are
thrown from time to time, the whole
mass burning more or less rapidly in pro-
portion to the dryness Of the weed. There
results, in the bottoms of these pits,
black mass resembling iron-slag i'll APP.
pcarance, though not in hardness, which,
being sprinklcd with water while hot,
breaks up into large Jumps suitable for
transportation. Owing to the careessncss
with which the weeds are rakcd up, ths
crude kclp-slag always contains a large
percentage Of sand and other impurities,
sometimes amounting to one half tho
total weight of the product. The inn
providence OF this is the more marked in
view Of the small amount of valuable
salts which even ut best can be found
in the kelp, and the rapid ratio in which
The cost OF transportation diminir hes
the profits. when half of the Stag is
dead weight. The improvidencc extends
equally to the burning itself. This takes
place i'll full access of air, and at q
temperature so high us to volutilizc much
OF the Iodine. Besides, all the gaseous
products of the combustion are lost and
the escaped gases overcloud whole town
ships, and impart to miles OF sca-shora
the peculiar odor characteristic of burn
ing keip. To save these gaseous pro-
ducts by distilling the weeds in closed
rctorts, at low temperatures, would
mean the production, ut little extra cost,
of valuable amounts Of ammonia, paraiin,
acetic acid, naphtha, etc. In addition,
the charcoal left would he much richer
i'll iodine than the ordinary kelp, and its
mechanical form much easier of sub
sequcnt extraction. Attention has been
called time and again to the enormous
waste of material and the easy means of
improvement i'll kclp making, but thus
far little inroad has been made into this
European species of ancestor worship.
The crofters cling to traditional methods
ind primitive tools.
When lleip, such as has been described,
is brought into market, it is purchased by
those directly engaged in making the
salts of iodine and the alkalies. In their
hands it becomes the subject OF careful
treatment to separate the valuable ingrc-
dents from the gross impurities with
which they are associated. This is COM
monty done by breaking the kcip into
small Jumps and iixiviating in suitable
watts filled with hot water or supplied
with steam vapor.-Pap9Lar Science
M0nthtV