Mr. Glassford's History and Description of the Kelp Manufacture. 253 



M made, ind tin; labowi of the day are finished. The material of 

 the second floor generally becomes fhsed into the surface of the first, and 

 forms one undistinguishablc mass or cake. These cakes are of various 

 thirilrnoei aooording to the Bomber of floors, and to the rapidity or slow- 

 in— of tii B hunting. In ( 'nllonsay they seldom burn more than two floors 

 in the same kiln, but in the Uist Islands, and elsewhere, they frequently 

 havo four Ol i\< n six floors: I prefer the latter plan, as it ensures the 

 cleanliness of the kelp. It is obvious that much of the soil, earth and 

 •ton* which form the bed of the kiln, and which is generally unprotected, 

 gets unavoidably raked up by the corags into the fused kelp, and mixes 

 with it; this can only take place, however, with the first floor, the succeed- 

 ing floors resting on the top of which, must, unless vitiated by the 

 throwing in of sand, earth or stones, be quite pure and clean. I am sorry 

 to have to remark that these injurious and unjust practices are often — too 

 often — deliberately and regularly had recourse to; it is done by the 

 companies merely for the purpose of adding weight to the kelp aiel 

 increasing their returns, under the impression that as they are not 

 seen doing so, the fraud cannot be discovered. To the honour of the 

 men of Collonsay, I have to say, that although the fraud is well known, 

 and occasionally attempted by a few, this practice is held in detestation 

 amongst them, the men vieing with each other in producing clean and 

 good kelp. The operations of drying and burning being necessarily 

 performed out of doors, it will be evident that warm and dry weather 

 is ' essential ; indeed the success of the season entirely depends on 

 this, for when rain sets in at any of these periods, and continues for a 

 length of time, the wreck wastes and sometimes becomes totally useless, 

 and the kelp, which is already made, unless carefully secured and covered 

 from air and moisture, gets destroyed. None of the operations can go 

 on except the cutting and collecting, but even this is abandoned with the 

 prospect of wet weather, and the men are reluctantly obliged to retreat 

 homewards. It will be evident how materially a few wet days interrupt and 

 retard their operations, when we recollect that it is only during the days of 

 high spring tides that the weed is collected, and, that without weeds, none 

 ol the other processes can follow. A few wet days at any time of the 

 kelp season, materially affect the produce of kelp, and injures the pros- 

 of the kelpers, for little else can be done by them at this season, and 

 wet weather is too frequently accompanied in the Hebrides, with squally 

 winds and a swelling sea. 



The materials of the structure of to-day's kilns, are taken for the 

 erection of succeeding kilns; they are generally too hot for the succeed- 

 ing day's operations. The kelp titer lying a day or two, and when able 

 handled, is broken up into lumps, piled up together, and covered, 

 first with a mass of fern leaves or straw, and finally, with a good layer of 

 light grass sods, which shields it from the rain, and protects it from the air : 

 it lies here until it is required for shipping. As it is of the greatest 

 importance to all parties concerned, that the kelp be carefully excluded 



