The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1907-12-26
ga VEGETABLES.
ILTIvATED ON NEW ENGLAND COAST
TO SOME EXTENT.

part VI Nlldt Is dtdlldUlo III CllS way Is
actually gathered. "Sea spinach" 10Th
erwise known as laver) IS eaten to some
extent in Philadelphia, and "sea cab
bage'' is not unfamiliar dish in Bos-
ton; but the only salt water plant &C
for table purposes is the Irish moss"
formerly employed in the manufacture
of blanc mango, when that old fashion
ed dessert enjoyed popularity, the en-
tire output of which is gathered and
prepared for market in the neighbor-
hood of Scituate, Mass.
There can be no question of the fact
that many millions of dollars are thrown
away annually through neglect to uti-
lie these resources of the sea. The
frugal Japanese gather and consume as
food immense quantities of such marine
vegetables, which, exactly the same
species, are plentiful along our own
shores, though regarded by US, in our
ignorance, only as valueless water
weeds; and the cultivation of one kind
is regularly pursued by them as sort
of aquatic farming. At some future
day, doubtless, Yankee cooks will learn
how to prepare many palatable dishes
from these plants, which, especially in
winter, when fresh land vegetables are
scarce, will be godsend to the poorer
classes.
Meanwhile the only farming" ofithe
kind attempted by ourselves Gf such it
NAV be termed) is carried on in this
ueighborhood, whence Though the size
of the crop varies good dead some
thing like 1000 tons of Irish moss are
shipped annually to Boston and other
cities. This product is no longer en-
ployed to any great extent, as formerly,
for making blanc mango, its chief and
almost exclusive use being to clarity
beer. The brewers take practically the
entire crop, sending buying agents every
summer to Scituate to bargain with the
fishermen for the material, which is
packed in barrels and forwarded by
freight. AS a rule, the price paid is
about three and half cents a pound.
This interesting and valuable sea
vegetable grows on rocks below low
water mark, and is collected at ebb
tide, when the water is smooth, by
means of long handled rakes with
sharp iron teeth. The fishermen, in
favorable weather, are able to discern
patches of it, where in the shadows it
covers thickly the stony bottom, and
tear it away, loading their boats with
wet heaps of the dark green vegetation,
and, when shore is reached, spreading
it on the beach to dry. A new crop de-
yelops in a few weeks, so that the mos
sers," as they call themselves. can go
again and yet again over the same
ground in the course of a season. A
skilled hand will sometimes collect as
much as $40 worth in day; but this is
exceptional, and it must be remembered
that stormy days are impossible for the
business, and the process of curing the
vegetable for market consumes much
time and labor.
Having fetched his boatload of moss
to land, the tiSherman-he may properly
so be called, inasmuch as he devotes his
winters to fishing for fish, and his sum-
mers to fishing for seaweed-spreads
the stuff on a clean, sandy beach above
high water mark, to dry in the sun. In
cdentally, it undergoes sort of bleach
dark a green in color as to be almost
black, but after few days it becomes
yellow and translucent. At frequent
intervals it is raked over carefully, all
pebbles and other foreign material be-
ing removed-a part of the work usual
ly done by women and children-and
finally it is washed thoroughly in great
wooden tubs (hogsheads sawed in half,
from which, after another drying, it
comes out almost white, and quite light
and fluffy
Great care is taken however, that
during the latter part of the bleaching
process no rain shall fall upon the dry
ing seaWeed, for, if such thing should
happen, it would be liable to rot. To
protect it against such a mishap, it is
raked into heaps when a storm ap-
proaches and covered with sheets of
canvas.
Seaweeds, gathered on the shores of
Europe, are made to yield large quanti-
ties of valuable commercial materials
among others iodine. From this source
in fact is obtained the entire supply of
iodine consumed in the world, the great
usefulness of which in medicine and in
photography renders it by far the most
important of the plant products of the
ocean. A ton of driftWood kelp, when
burned, affords about five pounds of
iodine; yet the proportion of iodine in
SeaWater is SO small that 100000
pounds of the fluid are required to fur
nish one pound of the substance to the
growing weeds.
In some parts of the Atlantic ocean
marine plants form immense banks
veritabe floating meadows, which con-
tain vast stores of material in readi- |
ness for use by man. Up to the present |
time, however, no practicable method |
has been devised for bringing the stuff |
70 market. or for spreading it upon the
soil, which it would do so much to |
render fertile. Asa fertilizer seaweeGs |
are unsurpassed, and they act with
wonderful rapidity, producing at once
from soil that has been unproductive
most plenteous crops.
Marine plants vary in size from al
most microscopic forms to huge vege-
tables like the giant kelp." which is
plentiful all along the northwest coast
of the United States. Its stem attains
e length of 300 feet, bearing at its top
an air-bulb, from which tuft of |
leaves 80 or 40 feet long
Yet the stem is no thicker |
than a window-cord, very strong and
and the natives in that region
have used it since time immemoral tor
lines for deep-sea fishing, preparing it |
by soaking, stretching and drying.
From the fronds of the giant kelp is
remarkable substance which,
the chemists say, is 81 times as gummy
as gum-arabic. When evaporated on
slate, it takes the form of thin sheets,
resembling gelatine and very flexible.
These sheets can be written or printed
upon; and in Japan they are used for