The Washington weekly post., 1900-09-25
SEA Moss HaRvEsrs.
Little Used fer Blsze HsnEe New, bat
Brsweries Want 10.

Frsu TIE Bangor IEaassrial JsurasL
Fifty years ago blanc mango was not
only common article OF diet. but also
took the place OF Ice cream at evening
parties and church sociabies- In many
cubpoards there are to-day the quaint,
flariag gobleis which were made for blanc
mango glasses and have outlived their
usefulness Irish moss was marketabis
article In those days, but messing was not
big Industry. and the product OF ths
rock xas probably not a tenth OK what
it Is to-day. Irish mess has been PIT 10
new use within recent years. and instead
of being gathered for food it is now gath
cred for drink This information came
from a silent man who was raking over
the drying moss on the beach.
is this the kind OF moss they make
blanc mango Off"
Yes"
rs it ready to be cooked when you get
through with it,
Yes"
Isn't il hard to get enough for the peo-
pie OF this country TO eat?"
NE. We would starve TO death on what
is sold for food
What Is il sold for, then?'
For beer"
rs that so? Do the breweries use it in
stead OF hOps?'
NO; for purifying the beer"
This was new light. The picturesque
rows OF tubs, mounds, and patches, the
patient drying and washing and bleach
ing were, then, all for beer.
The mosser requires of nature two
things, submerged rocks for the moss to
grow Oh and a clean, sandy beach for il
to dry On. His outfit begins with . dOry
and fine iron rake with a slender wood
en- handle L or Is feet long. He rows out
to the rocks on the ebb tide when the
water is smooth enough so that he can
see the bottom clearly. The moss is very
DARK green, and looks black in the deep
water, completely covering the rock on
Wnlcn IL grows The mosser reaches down
with his rake and gets its teeth hlled with
the stunted plants, which grow only three
or four inches high. Each rakeful Is
dumped right before him in the widest
part of the GOry, and on food tide when
the water gets too deep for further work.
the mosser rows back TO shore. The
great black heap of moss covers up his
legs and rises a foot or more above the
sides OF the boat. In deep spots II is pos
sible to work only short time before
ana after dead low water, but IN other
places the mosser can rake on three hours
eoo and three hours rise, giving him six
hours TO tide.
After the moss has been gathered new
crop VIII grow in a few weeks. so ne
mOsser goes repeatedly over the same
ground. and learns the bottom so thor
oughly that he can sometimes work on
the night tides when the water IS smooth.
While man can gather s. and even $40
worth of moss on a fair day, there are
many days when he can gather none at
all. stormy weather means a setback
not only in gathering. but also IN curing
the moss, and in any weather there is
gets into the moss and renders 1t unma--
Keiable
When the mosser comes in with his
loaded dory he leaves Ii afioat while he
refreshes the inner man. or. in plain En-
glish. eats square meal Then he works
at other things until the tide is high,
when he can easily pitch the moss ashore
and spread ii out on the sand above high
water mark. dcrylold spread out like
hay will make a patch the size OF a good
sized room. II locks almost black at first,
but a. IL lies in the sun, raked over day
after day, 1t assumes green, brown. and
reddish tints. After washing, however, II
becomes uniformly yellow. with a sort Of
translucent appearance. Under some con-
dtious the moss can be cured In ten days
and az other times the process may oc-
Cupy three or four weeks. Each mOsseT
has near his cottage or shanty a lot of
patches, whose varying colors show the
different stages of the process. At some
Stages ram Is HkelN 10 SSTlOuSlN 1FldN the
curing process, so that at night the moss
is heaped up Ike haycocks and covered
with sailclnth
After It is dried II Is thoroughly washed.
and then dried again. The washing is done
In great tubs made of hossheads, which
are bought for 81 apiece and sawed in two.
These tubs are lined along the beach at
high-wateT mark and filled with moss
from one side and water from the other.
the water being seooped up at high tide by
1f har rlf xxrffh -,
tnem Just like clothes, the moss is
souzled and scrubbed and rlnsed until Il
gistens in the sunlight. amber colored,
and is again spread upon the clean sand.
Ordinary wooden hay rakes are used to
turn the curing moss, and the work is
done by ren. women, and even children,
whose bare feet are tanned and whole
some looking. During the many rakings
stones, shells. bits of ordinary seaweed,
or infected moss are picked out. Then,
when it is cured, the moss is stored In
large sheds like hay barns.
A few years ago moss brought cents a
pound and proved a bonanza, but to-day
It's gathering is only fairly profitable at
rels. or 200 pounds. in half a day, that
sounds like good business at 81, but the
moss must yet be cured and the stormy
days accounted for Still. there is one
mana surfman in the Winter-Who has
the reputation of making $50 week moss
ing in the summer season, which lasts
generally during the three summer
months. At the end of the season the
buyers for the breweries come around
and make their bargains with the moss
ers who must then barrel their product
and ship II to Boston. The slowing Of
one hundred pounds of dry, spTingy CARA
green In an ordinary flour barrel is about
The hardest work that the mosser has to
do. III some cases the moss is shipped IN
bales. but the buyers prefer TO have II
DaTTeled. ard allow 3 cents a hundred
pounds for that purpose.