Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-03
SEAWEED IN MAINE
GATHERING THE FERTILIZER IS
A HARD CALLING.
Per obscot River Alone Supplies Over
100000 Tons Annually to the
Rock-Ridden Farmer.

The calling OF gathering seaweed II one
@, the hardest known in Maine. The men
are wet to the skin all the time. They eat
cold lunches. They sleep out OF doors.
Thsy average eighteen hours work day,
says Portland correspondent Of the Bos-
ton Herald.
There is an aged and cynical saying. COM
mon along the eastern shore. which relates
how "a rnercful farmer always sent his
f.ral men to pull rockwell when 1t rained
T., hard to work out Of doors" The exact
v,riiug Is not nice for refined ears, al
f.n.sh the Idea conveyed requires no ex-
p.'tory key
r ,J~e the days when cheap commercial
{ zers were invented every farmer
WITHIN four miles Of salt water relied upon
l. spring gathering of seaweed for the
e. sing 10 give his potatoes an early
1y'. and for the production Of hard and
.. %. al rutahaga turuips, such as are said
7" lake sheep laugh and to rejoice the
l..~t of every hoy who owns sharp jack
) fa and healty appetite.
cry spring more than five thousand
t."- Of rockwell are gathered and placed
avs 10 be carried far up the Penobscot
a- .laced In fresh burrows. while the
a0r used by nearby farmers is fully
Pm. " rs much. Except where the haul is
r. one. when the product Is pulled and
o. away In carts, rockwell il collected
-r'5Cssf0nal h&Tvesters, who come with
.-a. toned scows and baskets and pull
H.' deliver the seaweeds for 5 cents a
.ae scow is grounded on a gravelly spot
ma rocks at the beginning OF ebb tide,
D. Wen which time and neap tide two
s-.-rNous men can pull and carry 300 bush
r.A 70 the Sow.
tus II las become a practice to build
WIDE and shual boats holding about six hun
dt.l bushels so that a regular crew can
lad the craft to the gunwales in two tides
ard by catching few hours for meals and
scoop at the top Of the flood they can come
'r.'ty and depart 'oaded between two sun
Agricultural Paradox
Z the early planning season. when the
w'rr Is running down in floods. scow will
fit from Bangor to Hampden to the rock
wed beds in eight or ten hours, no matter
va.ch way the wind blows. In getting back.
J-ess there is a wind from the south, 80
as TO help the craft along, the men must
scull all the way which consumes two
days or more
Two men who are Joint owners of a scow
and who are anxious to get on in the world
can earn on an average $50 in five days.
which is counted as good wages.
II while scowing rockwell upstream
against the tide they can also secure or
deTs tor boards and other building material
or sIwdust for summer bedding of stock
tn advantage of carrying load both ways
Is s" much clear gan. and at times the car
flf!~ may earn as lnUCn as $40 500 a
wsek though the week is always of seven
day. duration and frequently includes most
OF the night.
The prejudice which east Maine farmers
haVe in favor of using seaweed a. a fertil-
i9'r for several crops has become an agri-
cultural paradox. The marine plant itself
Is pulpy and dripping growth that is
more than rs per cent pure water Under
analysis the ash Is mostly plain salt with
trace of Iodine and just faint indication
OF lime and potash.
Appraised at its commercial value as
plant food. fresh seaweed is not worth
more than - cents a cord. though there are
hundreds Of hard-headed farmers who are
anxious TO purchase all they can secure for
cents a bushel.
The reason for this seeming wastefulness
Is said to be due TO the fact that the moist
plants have a most beneficial effect upon
the mechanical character of the soil, the
fermenting pods of the seaweed warming
tn land, the salt In the stalks drawing
moisture from their surroundings and the
decay "t the mass leaving mellow cavities
underground. In which the rootlets can
roam without difficulty.
II - very certain that the smoothest and
hands1mvst and plumpest potatoes and tur-
nips grown In Maine raised from plac-
Ing an abundance Of fresh seaweed in the
rows at the time OF Planting.
As Men Pitch Hay
New rockweed is also OF great help to
those who grow cabbages and caulifower
though it is more harmful than otherwise
when used for corn or beans.
II is claimed that a handful OF rockweed
placed N the fork OF an apple tree in June
Will XII all the bark lice and other insects
and add the freshness Of youth to the rough
bark of aged trees.
In eastern Maine, where the average rise
and fail Of the tides Is sixteen feet or more
and where the temperature of the water
Is low all through the year. seaweed is
praCtra llys the only marine fertilizer that
Is collected. To be sure, there are few
aged and malodOrous mussel beds where
the broken shells and the clingy mud In
dicate there has been an abundance of ami
main they are composed of black humus
that has been se~Ded out from peat boys
and rOtt'ng sawdust. which has come down
from Up-river mills.
There are no 'horseshoes" in the Maine
waters to be was ed to the shore In win
drows by easterly gales. The sea urchIns
and starfisheS are not abundant enough to
be taken into account.
The great shoals or pOrgies which Cloggcd
the Weirs and darkened the waters a score
II they come at all, their numbers are so
few 70 lie OF small value.
But the pulypod algae grows upon the
rocks along the entire shore front OF Maine
often extending scvcra' miles on the banks
OF the r.yers II grows in thick and matted
masses. and can be gatt cred almost as rap
Idly a. % man can pitch hay. In shoal
coves much OF the growth is taken UP
cling nE 20 The winter ice and carried to
sea though on steep and stony banks 1t
Inaintai.- firm roots and gives an abundant
harvcSt very year.
ThoUEa only 1900 tons are gathered
yearly, l. - believed that the seaweed which
grows along the Penobscot river alone
amounts 20 more than 100000 tons annually.
"AU Tins IN Centso