The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1909-02-04
sEAWEED AS A FERTILIZER.
lts Value to Coast Farmers 10 In
ereaslnq.


ersaslng.
Seaweed Is a valuable fertilizer. The
Irish peasants prefer It to manure,
and the farmers of the Orkney islands
formerly let farmyard manure accu-
mulate unused on account of its infe-
riority to seaweed as a fertilizer.
The seaweed that is brought ashore
or drifts there is dried and burned,
and the ashes are spread over the
land. The ashes contain good pro-
portion Of potash and phosphates. and
some kinds of weed also yield nj
trates. These three substances are the
life of vegetation, and for this reason
the ashes Of seaweed are an ideal food
for crops.
Some years ago French sea cap
tain attempted to organize company
to send ships to the Sargasso sea.
where they could easily collect big
cargoes Of drift weed and bring it to
France to be burned for the fertiliz-
ing ashes. Capitalists told him. how
ever, that they did not think it would
pay to carry the weed 40 far. and the
money was not raised.
It is asserted by some authorities
that the great deposits Of nitrate Of
soda which are sent from Chile to all
parts Of Europe and the United States
to be spread over the farm lands were
formed by the decay Of huge masses
Of seaweed when the land was sunk
under the sea. Undecomposed parts of
seaweed. 1t is said, are still found
there.
The attention of the Cape Colony
government was recently called to the
fact that very large quantities of sea.
weed IRE constantly being washed
ashore along the northwest coast. and
at last accounts the government had
sent for samples Of the weed to deter
mine its value as fertilizer.
Sir Humphry Davy was one Of the
first to recommend seaweed as fer
tilizer about a century ago. For gen.
erations the inha bitants Of the Chan
mel islands have gained fair living
by collecting and burning the weed
and selling the ashes as manure.
These ashes are also largely used in
the British isles and along the Nor
wegian and French coasts.
The publications of the United
States agricultural department say
that the use of seaweed as fertilizer
is increasing in this country. that for
long stretches Of the New England
coast the weed Is utilized by the farm
ers for fifteen to twenty miles inland
and that t Is especially favored for
the stimulation Of clover fields Rye
beach is almost always strcwn with
the weed, and few lands ever show 80
luxuriant growth Of red clover as
those in the neighborhood Of this
beach.
The seaweed thrown up on the
shores In the neighborhood Of Cape
Town has long been regarded as an
expensive nuisance. The city govern
ment has for years been paying team
sters to collect the stuff, haul It away
and bury 1t. The amount Of weed thus
disposed Of has been about 1.5OO tons
| year.
The city authorities have now seen
new light and are spreading the
news among the farmers that the
weed is very valuable fertilizer
Concrete Watering Places.
- It is the opinion of a correspondent
Of the Country Gentleman that there
is an excellent chance to combine
utility and beauty Id the erection OF
attractive and permanent watering
places In village streets and along
country roads. The old moss covered
tub, half buried in a bank of ferns
and wild flowers, presents a pic
turesque appearance no doubt, but in
short time the hoops Of the tub