1919 



Jlotson; on Sphagnum Dressings 



213 



the orders received for these dressings. At the time the armistice was 

 signed the British were making over a million of these pads a month. The 

 Canadian Red Cross under the direction of Dr. J. B. Porter, was working 

 on an order of 20,000,000, and turning out between two and three hundred 

 thousand a month; while the American Red Cross, having completed an 

 order for half a million, had just nicely started another allotment of 

 1 ,000,000 sphagnum dressings under the direction of the writer. 



Although considerable work has been done in determining the char- 

 acteristics of usable moss and the species possessing them, the more diffi- 

 cult problems have arisen in connection with handling the moss most 

 effectively after it has been gathered. The object of this article is to 

 present some of the methods and devices used in handling sphagnum from 

 the time it is gathered until it is made into dressings. 



Collection of Sphagnum 



The main collecting ground in Washington has been in Pacific county, 

 while in Oregon the supply has come from the vicinity of Tillamook, 

 Newport, Marshfield and Florence. All the moss used in the Northwestern 

 Division has been collected by volunteer labor. "Moss drives" occurred 

 at more or less regular intervals. These were announced through the local 

 ])apers and by means of posters. In each case simple directions for col- 

 lecting were printed on the back. Similar advertising was done at other 



PLATE 31 



Carrying Sphagrium from tlift bos to the roail. 



