1919 Hotsoii; on Sphagnum Dressings 215 



these difficulties, sufficient moss was collected for nearly 200,000 pads. 

 Plate 33 illustrates one Sunday's work which aggregated 2000 sacks of 

 moss. Great credit is due to the people who live near the bogs and have 

 cooperated in this work, many of them doing so at a real sacrifice for 

 their sons, brothers and sweethearts at the front. It is these people who 

 have made it possible for pads to be made in such large numbers and at 

 comparatively little cost. It counts for little to work out the method of 

 making an acceptable pad and to instruct women in large cities like Seattle 

 and Portland in making them, if the raw material is not forthcoming. 

 Never has a chapter in the Northwestern Division of the Red Cross had 

 to stop making pads for lack of moss. They may have had to wait on the 

 sorter or drying apparatus, but the raw material was always on hand, 

 thanks to the cooperation of the people living near the bogs. 



The following are a few of the salient points to be kept in mind while 

 gathering sphagnum: 



(1) Know exactly what you want before you begin. No collection 

 should be undertaken until samples of the moss have been submitted to 

 headquarters and approved. Until fairly familiar with the work, carry 

 an approved sample of sphagnum with you and compare it frequently with 

 the material you are collecting. If you collect the wrong moss you waste 

 your own time and strength, the shipping expenses, and the time of the 

 workers sorting. 



(2) Gather clean moss. Collectors are often anxious to fill their 

 sacks quickly. It is more important to fill the sacks carefully. Sphag- 

 num badly. mixed with other plants, roots and rubbish requires infinite 

 labor in the sorting room and discourages the workers there. Aim at 

 making a record for the quality and not for the quantity of the moss 

 you collect. 



(3) Work the moss bed as deep as possible. Sometimes suitable 

 moss extends a foot or more below the surface. In general, whenever the 

 plants begin to break up as a result of the first stages in decay, they must 

 be discarded, but as long as they remain intact and the stem fairly well 

 crowded with lateral branches, they may be used, the color playing little 

 or no part in determining the suitability. 



(4) Gather the moss in double handfuls. If wet, squeeze out as much 

 water as possible before putting it in the bag but do not wring it, as that 

 will break and injure the stem. Hasty collections often leave the moss 

 dripping wet, and this not only adds needlessly to the weight of the sacks 

 but increases the difficulty of drying Liter on. 



(5) As you work 3'our wav througli the bog collecting moss, take all 

 the good material as you go. Do not pick a little here and a little there, 

 thus making later work in the bog difficult and unattractive. Be thorough. 



