The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1890-04-11
An OCEAN HARVEST.
GATHERING sEA-WEED ON THE
BRITISH COAST.
An Occupation in Which Thousands
of People Are Engaged-Burn.
ing the Weed Into KeIp
-ns Commercial Uses.

Bv far the larger portion Of the sea-wse,
harvest along the coasts of Scotland, Ire
land and adjoining islands comes ashor
in the early spring and in the late fall
The fall harvest, together with that which
winter fSs, is suffered in most Localities
to lie ron ehed on the beach until it hai
beesa..siedsout to sea again and lost
fore<r- It IS only the spring crop which
receives special care. Thousands OF
women and children, aud small sprin-
king of men, may be seen docking to the
beach during the month of May, armed
with rakss and wheelbanows, 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 a conveniently safe distance from
tho waters edge. Usually a sheltered
nook is chosen, if near at hand, and in
it is stored a great mass of the weed.
Here It is left 70 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-weed rights have been
kno4sn 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 sea-weed heaps I'M
dertake to burn them into kelp. This
burning IS done IN the crudest and most
wastefnl manner. Shallow pits, often
dug right IN the sand, are filed with
weed and the mass ignited. Upon the
first charge fresh 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, a
black mass resembling iron-slag in ap-
pearance, though not IN hardness, which,
being sprinkled with water while hot,
breaks up into large humps suitable for
transportation. Owing to the careleSsness
with which the weeds are raked up, this
crude kelp-slag always contains large
of sand end other impurities,
sometimes amounting to one half the
total weight of the product. The i'm
providence Of this is the more marked 10
view of the small amount Of valuable
salts which esen at best can be found
IN the kelp, aud the rapid ratio in which
the cost Of transportation diminishes
the profits when half Of the Stag Is
dead weight. The improgidence extends
equally TO the burning itself. This takes
place In full access of alr, and at
temperature so nigh as to volatilize much
Of the iodine Besides, ali the gaseous 1
products OF the combustion are lost and
lhe escaped gases overcloud whole town
ships, and ippart to miles Of sea-shore
the peculiar odor characteristic Of burn
ing kelp. To save these gaseous pro-
ducts by distiiiing To weeds in closed
retorts, at low tet eratures, would
mean the production, at little extra cost,
Of valuable amounts OF ammonia, parain,
scetic acid, naphtha, etc. In addition,
the charcoal left would be much richer
in iodine than the ordinary kelp, and its
form much easier of sub
;equeut extraction. Attention has been
called time and again to the enormous
waste Of material and the easy means of
in kelp making, but thus
lar little iDroad has been made into this
European species Of ancestor worship.
The crofters cling to traditional methods
aud primitive tools.
When kelp, such as has been described.
q brought into market, it is purchased by
those directly engaged in making the
salts ofiodine and the alkalies. In their
hands It becomes the subject of careful
treatment to separate the valuable ingre-
dents from the gross impurities with
which they are associated. This IS COM
monty done By breaking the kelp into
mall Jumps and lixivIating IN suitable
rats filed with hot water or supplied
with steam Yapor.-PopaIar Science
Al0atflV.