THE USES OF SEAWEED.

Shannon News, 15 January 1926, Page 2

THE USES OF SEAWEED.

Though the ordinary seaside visitor each summer looks contemptuously for the most part, at the masses of seaweed which he sees lying on the shore, or rolling about in the waves, and regards this but as so much waste-product of the sea, he in, if he only knew it, entirely wrong. True, in most places the seaweed curiously v 'enough) is allowed to; become merely flotsam and jetsam—a nuisance even when it is permitted to cumber certain places, or to diffuse smells that are certainly not too attractive when very strong, .whatever they may be as regards the health-giv-ing side. But there are spots where people exist who have more wisdom, more knowledge, and more resolution to make seaweed a paying asset for themselves and for their work. And before to-day fortunes have been made from such useful knowledge and line resolve. Certain kinds of seaweed can be made into excellent food for sheep and cattle At the famous Mont St. Michel, of thci coast of Normandy, may bo seen one of the most remarkable flocks of sheep in the world. It is perhaps the largest, too, in all Brittany and Normandy, for, whilst cattle are common- there, sheep are usually seldom met with. This flock belongs to the Mount itself, and has been in existahce for many decades. The sheep wander long distances and feed on the seaweed and scanty grass to be found on the shores all round the foot of the. celebrated ancient stronghold of the Du Guesclins; and they not only live and breed there so as to bring in a good income annually to the authorities, but they serve to ' attract so many curious visitors to see such an uncommon flock, that*.the wealth accruing to the Mount in .this jway has been sufficient to make many i a fortune.

I On tlie Isle of Grain, off the coast of Kent, may be found Mr. Levitt, who makes quite a good livelihood ,from gathering certain kinds of seaweed, cleaning it, and dyeing it before he disposes of it, to noted London milliners for the trimming of hats. The best sorts of seaweeds for this purpose are the long strands of feathery stuff known to science as " sectaries, " and to Kent folk, as "White Seaweed.'' How- profitable the indus-, try has become under Mr. Levitt's clever management and superior knowledge may be seen from the fact that forty years back he began the job alone, but to-day employs many labourers to help, him. Of course the work demands special knowledge and much care in choosing the right stuff for the purpose. But Mr. Levitt shows what can be done with what was so long ago regarded, as "waste" when he tells you that before to-day he has had an order from Belgium of no less than 10,000 pounds of the seaweed. As you journey along the roads beside the sea coast in Jersey, you may often s - ee great heaps, of seaweed, as big as small haystacks, which men have, collected and left there to dry. These heaps are later on easily sold to farmers and agriculturists for use as manure and fuel. How much money eari be made from a wise employment of this weed in that way was made clear to me by a smart young fellow at' St. Helier, who spent all his time in this business at the proper season. He said: — '' Seaweed thus collected in heaps is called by us 'Vraic,' or 'Wrack.' It is in big demand both for the fields as manure and for burning together with wood in winter as house-fuel or hot-house-fuel. I have often got as much as five shillings a small load for it in ordinary tim'es; but when winters are worse "than usual, or the supply is not abundant, the priee obtnineJ has frequently, been ten shillings a load. "To my knowledge there is a man here in Jersey who has done quite well from the financial point of view by his .lifework as a collector and seller oi! 'Vraic' He could possibly retire today whenever he liked with at any rate, certainty of being able to live decently for the "rest of his life." From a gatherer of seaweed whom I met on the Welsh coast I learned a few summers ago that the weed, after being burnt by him, was sent in the shape of aSh' "to farmers growing particular sorts of-crops for which this weed-ash-maure was specially excellent. Also that a very fair livelihood could .be made from this gathering, once you had got a range of regular customers. This man told me that in more than one phase of the chemical industries connected with various works and trades seaweed-ash had been found a valuable adjunct in producing certain results and that a good price was paid for the right sort of ash in such eases.