The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-03-04
TIL s. q IS LIE z TsEsR
SPON GE 3 AlRMINC e

(. -1sss--.sssAsss -
SPON ONCE
- Frederis
/ The scientilc research continually
lcarried on under the different depart
lments of.the United States govern
iment causes frequent changes in tn-
idustrial methods. One OF the latest
iot these IS In sponge production.
iFormaly It was called sponge fshing:3
thereafter It Is likely to be known as
Isponge farming, although it is still
iunder the direction OF the Bureau of
FISHERIES.
i The first man to operate for COM
lmercia1 purposes under the new8pro-
lcesses developed by the bureau Is an:
Englishman, living In Florida, who
lately established the first sponge
farm or ranch in the whole world. He
purchased a small island known as
Sugar Loaf where DR.. Moore had
Ibeen conducting his work, on the
iwestern coast Of Flor; da, and made
his first planting there less than four.
years ago. Now he has over half q
million sponges growing on his ranch,
Within the next ten years this pro-
gressive Englishmans expects to es-5
ltablish himself as the sponge king OF
the world, and to acquire a fortune
upon American soil through American
! aid by utilizing a great opportunity
which Americans themselves have
strangely overlooked.
The sponge production of Florida
for years has ranked next to that of
tine Mediterranean Sea, but the meth
DDS used have so5depleted the supply
that exhaustion seemed imminent. A
few years ago sponges IN FLORIDA
were SO plentiful that they could be-
gathered by hand by men Wading out
into shallow water, sometimes only q
few inches deep. But all of these ac-
cessible sponges have been gathered,
and now the combined operations Df
the sponge .-llookers, = the divers, and
the sponge-f1shing boats threaten ma
terially to injure the American sponge
beds unless some means are taken to
replenish them. Planting sponges in
waters which have already been
stripped of them, or in new localities
in which they will thrive, seems to be
the most feasible way Of preventing
their extinction
DR.. Moore demonstrated several
years ago that sponges could be prop
agated by artificial methods. This IS.
Especially feasible in shallow water,
where the sponges can be protected
from their natural enemies and be
readily accessible by the time they
| have grown into marketable size. 1t
takes considerable patience and cap
Iital to establish sponge ranch. Suit
able sponges for planting as seed
| must first be secured by the ordinary
methods. a three pronged hook att
tached to long pole is used for
sponge fishing "A water telescope
or sponge glass is also required. This
lis merely a wooden box or bucked
Having glass bottom. BY. subn1ers-
/ ing it and looking through the glass
1.-THE sponge fisher is able to see sponges
4 at the bottom OF water fifty feet deep.
When the sponge is located, the fisher
flowers his hook to the sponge bed,
guided by the glass which he still
holds In his left hand
Care must DE taken to hook the
sponge with as little mutilation "a
possible Sometimes It is impossible
Ito detach the entire sponge and merely
Fl the top comes of "a new sponge then
grows upon the old base. This fact
first Indicated to the scientist the pos
8! sibility of growing new sponges from
PLANTED fragments.
Divers are employed in sponge
gathering along the Florida coast, al
4 thong not in such numbers as in the
Mediterranean and Bahama sponge
4 fisheries. The, emplo yment Of nude
isdivers is forbidden by the state laws
4 or Florida, and the divers, boats and
apparatus are difficult and expensive
sEbring i'll large harvests OF sponges.
After it became certain that new
1isponges could be grown from pieces
4 old ones, lit became necessarysto se-
Il cure proper8ba bases for tn cir cul tiyation.
ESponges do not grow In the sand.
/; They require a firm foundation, such
4 as rock rscorat reef. They are there
4 fore most likely to be found where a
4 continual current washes away the
Hsand. leaving the rock exposed Wood
Ten stakes and cotton. and hemp cord
age were used IN the first sponge
4 planting experime is, but were not
stable enough. A dura bic and econ on
Il !on1ical M tilod OF securing the pieces
sof sponge ins the water is to use con-
crete disks about ten inches lin diam
eter. to which the bit OF sponge is at
Etached by aluminium wire. Copper
wire was sused at first, but the chem
|icaI action Of the sea 8water is strong
Eenough to corrode and conple tely de-
Estroy copper wire a sixteenth OF an
inch thick within a year.
Two kinds OF disks have been de-
signed so far The plain ones have
1 two holes through which the wires are
Itoabe threaded. 8 The other kind hasa
sort lead spindle In the center, to
which the wires are attached. The
latter are. more desirable because the
4 men can attach the sponge pieces to
y; tha,,, I'm 81 49, tf ov-s f,sa n
string the wires through the holes
according to- careful estimates the
], plain disks cost two cents and the
4 spindledi ones two and a fla lfScentsf e.,