The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1895-11-06
SPONGE GARDENING.
PROFITABLE SEA FARMS ALONG THE
FLORIDA COAST.

ancc Rendered ,.Ie Industry by the Gov
ernnlcni's Fish Commission.
Ever since the sponge fisheries Of the
Bahamas and tho gulf coast Of Florida
showed signs Of becoming exhausted e.
forts hayc lccl made 20 caltivate sp9ngcs
on farms or artificial beds, ard more re-
Gently science has tried TO initiate the
genuine article by converting the soft
Gber of the coc5anut leaves and shells
into sponges Of commercial value.
Sponge farming Is now a successful in
dust. AID hundreds Of acres IN the gulf
Of " Sico along the Florida coast arc
planted with sponge cuttings" and
seed. The work is not diSsimilar in
many respects to oyster culture. The
yo. = sra-acs are planted in water
alo. s, tine coast varying from one to five
fat lu.s in depth.
4 few years ago the fish commits
sioE Is had their attention called to the
spo. fisheries on the FLORIDA coast,
and after finding that the beds were he
ing rapidly depleted &C tie best stock,
an examination II the fisheries was made
ID ascertain yu.uc way Of preserving
them. Tho pociElcus of sponge taken to
WIliu,,.Jl in tie autumn Of the y,ar
Were found 20 be reproductive if tina
proper ColGit IONS wCec supplied Ths
spOngeS 81 tkc autumn were folud To de
vclop masses of pru-opl.sSm or spores,
which IN the 81 ling ui thc year were lib
crate J. These !orcs contained the small
reproductive PARTICLES from which the
sppn. C-yt 3a,-cd. Some If the sIungrs
expo. j.. aajed With did not reproduce
their .-...l at all. and It Was found that
in order 10 cultivate tie spougcs II vas
necessary 70 plant spongcs that pro-
duCci c,rtuin cells that contained the
ova or c-g and others that represented
spcrl-.;.,uZ
A saal. Donge farm was established
at Wa.,aiuc.1n. and then oti.,-s along
the Flur-.!s. ,...~. as experiments. These
proved ~IcceSSful. so that Private indi-
viduals wen. into the business. There
are many acre, Of sponge farms EcIr
I Key West. and Others at Anclote. Fla,
and urar TSnpa These farms were first
suppE,I with the.r s,els from the fish
I commi .onorS. bur u0w they are OBJ
/ tanned diroct from the sponge fisheries.
/ In the ausmnn If the wear the various
I kinds Of sTlugcs are purchased 10y the
/ sponge culJur;>t, who generally take au
7 assortment that Is sure 20 supply him
with both the male and female cells.
The beds. or farms. are usually ln>'at-
/ ed at some well protected place along
/ the coast and fenced in with natural for
f nations AND Artificial dauls. The sponge
seeds a-c Lyli iu .E3au pounds
4 "a a f,. .
l protolla~lu develop u,d ,raw. Early ~
/ the spring these spores a-o liberated in
I the larger bCjv az va-.-. vhcrr they
I soon SWIM around The eg-s continue 70
7 grow rapidly, and la "a short time attach
I themselves to the rocks or coral furua-
I tion gJ thc bottom Uf ,Gn wstcr
\ IL is very difficult to gcf tile right
/ location for au ideal sponge Led An
I arm VI the sea- where the salt water
flows in freely that has a natural hlrd
/ bottom is the best. Rocks. stones and
other Substances can he dropped at the
/ bottom for the spuugcs To fa>ten them
| selves to. The lagoon Is then damned
/ up, 50 that when the seed Is put IN fresh
/ II cannot flult ont 10 sea again. some
/ simply throw their sponges IN such "a
/ lagoon in the fall If the year and let the
/ protopla>m develop there. Under proper
/ cultivation the sponges thus raised are
superior To those found i'm the sea Only
the best varieties are proragatcd. The
"shecpSwOol' is the choicest. with tex
ture fine, soft and strong These sp1ngcs
sell for from ~. 80 20 - pound The
yellow sponge Is next in quality. and
its price is much less than the "sherps-
wool Tho grass sponge raised is
very limited. for its value Is too small
70 pay ono for tEc truuhlc.
After the sponge farm Is once started
there Is little lore To do with IL except
at harvesting time The e1uuces grow
slowly and usually three years clapSc be
fore any are pulled up Then only the
choicest, full grown ones are gathered.
The others are left To produce new seeds
and TO reach larger size The picking
of spnnges in a farm of this nature Is
much simpler than TO raise them from
the deep waters IF the gulf Armed with
long loaded pole buatman can easily
haul up the sponges that lac needs. and
in the course Of day he could gather
three times the quantity pulled up by
the regular sponge fishermen of the
N'sA'A- AAA' MsAtfA ~ tAA4A AAA tAAtAN NAAsAA
low over the artificial beds and not dis
turbed by tides, floating debris or winds.
Il is also very clear and pellucid. SO that
ole can see the bottom for long dis
tance down Occasionally one finds a
sponge farm where deep sea sponges arc
cultivated, and II Is necessary. then, 10
have diver TO gather them Here again
the work is made easier. The diver runs
no risk from sharks. tides OF other in
conveniences that daily beset those of
the coast.
The value Of the sponge farm increases
every year despite the annual harvest
that Is taken therefrom The new
sponges are spreading until every square
inch of the bottom and sides Of the pond