New-York tribune., 1907-01-13
BAY H4YMAKERS.
Crop of Sea Grass They Secure from
Bottom of Chesapeake.

Bottom of Chesapeake.
| The haymakers of the Chesapeake Bay waters
are almost class by themselves. living apart
| from their fellow baymen in little shacks
jutting points on the marshy islands Their
harvest comes from the bottom of the bay,
where 1t grows in long. waving ribbons-"the
sea moss "sea grass"
AS one sails over the shoals, say of Honga or
Tangier sounds. the bottom is to alternate
between dark greenish patches and of
white light gray. The dark places the
grassy bottoms" where the crabs hide and the
striped bass hover around. They also the
growing fields of the moss" gatherers. who are
beginning develop them in way that is all
| their own
Every storm sends the waves thrashng
! the grassy bottoms. and nyriads of the narrow.
| fiat stalks torn loose and go unduating in
the water hither and thither as the tide and the
wind list. At last. entangled with other strands,
! they are cast upon the sand or thrown among
| the marsh growths of such islands as Bloods-
| WORTH Hooper and Smith. Here the grass is
found in Jumps and snarls sometimes several
feet high, having been heaped there by prolonged
| storms.
The odor Of 1t is sweet and fragrant. and the
look of it ft to stop the passerby. for it lies in
| rounded windrows. striped and lined with
free hand, though barbaric artist had
| been pleasing himself with hit-or-miss designs
| in puppies and greens AS the storm waves
come in, breaking the shoal beach,
| the rolls of grass winding and over in the
frotly breakers, with ends flying up and ahead
the water pours toward the hummocky
marshland. Back and forth the grass washes.
| till big carries 1t far up toward the
| tiny dirt cliff and throws 1t to the edge of the
wave line. marked already by an accumulation
| OF grass.
When the storm dies away II is that the
grass is piled along the top OF the marshand
| brim in long, low windrows, ready to be cooked
up by the grass harvesters Then to the islands
! come the haymakers. with pitchforks and
| ing hip boots. in their three-log canoes or in
! their plank batteaus.
They work along the waterfront. picking up
parts Of the wndrows with their forks shaking
the sticks and other driftwood out of each fork
full. Quickly they get load for the fork. AS
J large a pile can be conveniently carried
| the tines is made on any bare spot in the rank
! marsh grass, and then the worker picks It all
| up on his fork. sings 1t over his shoulder and
wades out into the ripping water to the boat
riding at anchor, perhaps a hundred yards away.
Here he loads IT on the craft and returns to the
| task of getting another forkfu
| 1t is pick up. shake out and toss, hour after
| hour, usually from dawn till toward noon.
| AS the down the ebb tide. it fire.
| quently happens that the boats left the
| beach in the low tide and tilt far over while
the load is making
The coming of the flood tide straightens up
| forkfulls are carried aboard perhaps with the
waves rolling so high as to fill the high boots.
| Then the anchor is hosted, the sail spread and
the run home made. The baymen know their
business; they go and with the tide
much possible so as to save work with the
oars should the boat be caught in a calm.
After picking and ''toting'' the grass from the
windrow the haymaker complains Of lame back
and sore arms He declares that it's the hard
est work he did do, and sometimes a new
hand will find himself unable to work at all for
a week after his first experience, every move
ment being accompanied by darting pains in
biceps and forearms, not TO mention the steady
ache in the small of his back.
Nevertheless, the true haymaker returns TO
his task for it is attractive OF a thousand
men eight or find the gathering of this sea
crop just suited to their character. Like
"sang" (ginseng) hunters. or trappers, or other
peake enjoys the lonely work of gathering the
grass His fellows are in sight, but perhaps
they working across a strait on another ISL
and and at the nearest are too far away lot
much talk, since each man must take his own
section of a windrow. 200 300 yards long.
When island has been stripped the hay
makers go cruising for They seek the
windward shores. Sometimes they get all the
islands picked over after q storm, but they can
usually be busy all the while finding the grass
and making it, except in storms and freezes.
In the summer the crab dredgers rake back
and forth over the grassy bottoms picking up
the crabs hiding in the fluttering mass The iron
rakes tear out the grass over many acres. ana
the crabber casts the strands back into tho
water while saving the softshes, shedders and
hardshells which he captures. These Jumps of
grass soon go ashore and picked up, being
the best the haymakers get In the fall, winter
and early spring between storms dead" grass
is gathered.
A canoe loaded with grass looks it's kim
ship to a wagonload of hay. 1t rounds up and
bulges out on all sides. Woe to the haymakers
caught by a squall, 1t takes baymanshlp then
TO save the load and get it safely to the drying
grounds but it is usually done, though some
times the top of the load is carried away in
far flying tufts.
Having gathered the hay, the makers take 1t
to a sunny beach-the SUMMER and sander it is
the better. Here they spread the load out and
dry it. One sees an acre of land covered with
the sweet smelling grass fairly steaming in the
sun. Back and forth the mass work the
men, turning the grass incessantly, and in a
few hours 1t is perfectly dry and the sand
shaken out of It, Then it is put into a heap
beside a bale press and packed into bales of
hundred and fifty pounds weight each.
Each haymaker's crop is kept separate from
the other catches and baled Then the steel
yards tell the story of the financial side of the
business The great heap, covering the boat
from mast to tiler and hanging down over the
sides, dries out and packs down to half ton,
about IS for the days work for two men and
their boat-less. rather than more
The buyer sends the bales to Baltimore by
steamer. where they opened and the grass
put through hackle. which cuts it up into
/ short lengths. Then it is rebaled ahd shipped in
all directions for packing china stufing
ions.