Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-20
FLORIDA MOSS,
freeze OF Past Winter VIII Make
Future Crop Scarce

FROM the Scientific American
The freeze of this year killed the Florida
moss. People who do not recognize what
this means must think that this sonbar
gray drapery of the southern forests aives
one hundred bales week Of moss hair
70 me northern upholsterers from III. little
village OF Mtcanopy. Fla, alone, and other
factories IN the state yield many times as
much, and this is only about one-haIf Of
the weight of the moss when taken from the
trees. The other half is the useless envel
ope to the inner and valuable hair rbara
Is mistaken idea as to how the outer nor
ton of the moss is removed. If is eanar-
an! supposed that the coveing is removed
~ ci!elhicaiS or by passing through some
ingenious stripping machine The latter
""uid ne 100 expensive and the former Open
10 the danger of injuring the natural elias
ITCHY of the fiber ~
The moss when first gathered is greenish
gray Nhen Killed by frost or lack of prop
err Sustenance, ii is easily distingIjsbnd fror,
the live moss 1t turns gray ana if bittan
ieeis soft, while the live moss ..crnrrbes''
between the teeth But the outer coverine
VIII remain on either the dead or fresh
moss Tor months. If the moss either alive
or Killed. Is simply piled in heaDs in a moist
place and covered with muck or sand Il
soon begins to ferment. The temperature of
me, me inferior OF the heap rises to a point too
not FOR the hand to bear and if not check
ed, 1t keeps heating till too hot to walk
over But inns stage means damage to the
interior ha1r and must be avoided ProDer-
~ connncted, the fermentation means the
complete destruction of the outer skin ar6
me moss is left duly ''colored," l. g. show
ing the dark brown color of the hair.
~ reaches tnlS stage in the hands of the
pickers, who then deliver II in loose view
loads. like hay, to the gins. There are about
hfty OF these ginning establishments in the
state-very simple affairs. The building is
Constructed as cheapiy as possible md
costing from 5000 to 5000 no insur,nca is
obtainahie. The floor is SIX feet from the
ground ana made of Stats one and one-half
nches apart, so that short fihers, sticks
and dirt will sift out. In the building ia
nothing but a cheap modification of a cot
Ton gina cylinder two feet long and of the
same diameter. with two-nch teeth which
beat the 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 Is
cheap and very inefficient. The resulting
moss Is either '2 cent moss or "3 cent
moss'-the price per pound after ginning
according to the care with which the picker
delivered it. p' N0'
The writer was surprised to learn that
this is the only preparation the moss re-
ceiVes- 1t Is shipped in bales direct to the
wholesaler, who generally distributes them
unopened to the upholsterers.
The freeze will not interfere with this
years crop. The dead moss is treated just
as before the freeze. But the outlook for
next 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 locality the tree will be fDll
again in two or three years. This was
shown by the practice in moss localities of
cleaning 1t from the orange trees every two
years. But when the temperature fell to
degrees In the center of the state last
February the moss was quite generally kill
ed and its development 50 checked that the
yield will be smaller for several years.
South of Ocaia little harm was done.