The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1890-01-29
AN OCEAN HARVES
GATHERING SEA-WEED ON THE
BRITISH COAST.
An Occupation in Which Thousands
of People Are ERgaged-Burn-
ing the Weed Into kelp
- 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 focking to the
beach during the month of May, armed
with rakes and 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 at hand, and in
it is stored great mass of the weedt
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-weed rights have been
known to occur, in which cases the shil1
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 un!
dertake to burn them into kelp. This
burning is done in the crudest and most
wasteful manner. Shallow pits, often
dug right in the sand, are filled 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
resu1tsj i--4lAA bottoms of these pits, a.
black mass resembling ron-sies in ap--
pearance, though not in hardness, which,
being sprirkled with water while hot,
breaks up into large Jumps suitable for
transportation. Owing to the carelessness:
with which the weeds are raked up, this
crude kelp-slag always contains large
percentage of sand and other impurities,
sometimes amounting to one half the
total weight of the product. The im4
providence of this is the more marked in
view of the small amount of valuable
salts which even at best can be found
in the kelp, and the rapid ratio in which
the cost of transportation diminishes
the profits when half of the Stag Is,
dead weight. The improvidence extends-
equally to the burning itself. This takes.
place in full access of air, and at g
temperature so high as to volatilize 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 sea-shore
the peculiar odor characteristic of burn
ing kelp. To save these gaseous pro-
ducts by distilling the weeds in closed
retorts, at low temperatures, would :
ucdu GuC pLOuuSIlou, GU heoiS Saeho NoSo3i
of valuable amounts of ammonia, parafn,t!
acetic acid, naphtha, etc. In addition,
the charcoal left would be much richer
in iodine than the ordinary kelp, and it's
mechanical form much easier of SUBJ
seauent extraction. Attention has been
called time and again to the enormous
waste of material and the easy means of
improvement in kelp making, but thus
far little inroad has been made into this.
European species of ancestor worship,
The crofters cling to traditional methods
and primitive tools. +,
When kelp, such as has been described,
is brought into market, it 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 ingre-
dients from the gross impurities with
which they are associated. This is COM
monty done by breaking the kelp into.
small Jumps and lixiviating in suitable
vats filled with hot water or supplied
with steam vapor.-Popular Science
Monthly.