The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-08-04
ABOUT FLORIDA MOSS
MANY HUNDRED BALES A WEEK USED
BY NORTHERN UPHOLsTERERA

Moss Either Alive or Killed Piled in
Heaps and Covered With Muck or
Sand soon Begins to Ferment-Tem-
perature Rises Rapidly.
People who do not recognize what
It means to have the Florida moss kill
ed by a freeze, must think that this
somber gray drapery of the Southern
forests gives one hundred bales a
week OF moss hair" to the Northern
upholsterers from the little village OF
Micanopy, Fla. alone, and other fac
tories in the State yield many times az
much, and this is only about one-half
Of the weight OF the moss when taken
from the trees. The other half is the
useless envelope to the inner and valu-
able hair. There is a mistaken idea as
to how the outer portion OF the moss
Is removed. 1t is generally supposed
that the covering is removed by chem
icals or by passing through some in
genious stripping machine. The latter
would be too expensive and the former
open to the danger OF injuring the nat
ural elasticity of the fiber.
The moss when first gathered 10
greenish-gray. When killed by frost
or lack of proper sustenance, 1t Is easily
distinguished from the live moss. It
turns gray, and If bitten feels soft,
while the live moss ''crunches'' be-
tween the teeth. But the outer cover
ing will remain on either the dead or
fresh moss for months. II the moss.
either alive or killed, is simply piled
in heaps in moist place and covered
with muck or sand It soon begins to
ferment. The temperature OF the in
terror of the heap rises to a point too
hot for the hand to bear, and, II not
checked, it keeps heating till too hot
to walk over. But this stage means
damage to the interior hair and must
be avoided. Properly conducted. the
fermentation means the complete de-
struction of the outer skin, and the
moss is left duly "colored," i. e., show
ing the dark brown color OF the hair.
1t reaches this stage in the hands of
the pickers, who then deliver 1t in
loose wagon loads, like hay. to the gins.
There are about fifty of these ginning
establishments in the State-very SIM
pie affairs. The building is construct
ed as cheaply as possible, and, costing
from 5000 to $500, no insurance is OBJ
tainable. The floor is six feet from the
ground and made OF Stats one and one
half inches apart, 80 that short fibers,
sticks and dirt will sift out In the
building is nothing but a cheap modifi-
cation of a cotton gina cylinder two
feet long and of the same diameter,
with two inch teeth which boat
moss against similar stationary teeth,
taking out sticks and rubbing off most
of the adhering remains of the outer
covering of the moss. The machine 10
cheap and very inefficient. The result
ing moss is either "2 cent moss" or -
cent moss"-the price per pound after
ginning according to the care with
which the picker delivered IT,
The writer was surprised to learn
that this is the only preparation the
moss receives. II is shipped in bales
direct to the wholesaler, who generally
distributes them unopened to the up
hosterers.
The dead moss is treated Just as be-
fore the freeze. But the outlook for
the following year is bad. The crop
will be small. Usually, where tree
has been picked clean, plenty Of small
bits are left. so that in a favorable To-
cality the tree will be full again In two
or three years. This was shown by
the practice in moss localities OF clean
ing it from the orange trees every two
years.-Scientific American.