1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



Sdl 



in gardens, vegetables lell in garden grounds, or 

 buried lor winter keeping ; or tor young trees, to 

 protect them I'rom the rigorous frosts of the wintry 

 season, and for a variety of purposes about iLiriii- 

 ing buildings. 



An opinion of the practical estimate ol' ils util- 

 ity may be formed Horn liie fact, that (or manur- 

 ing purposes, it is carted in Ireland to the distance 

 ol' forty-five miles inland liom the sea-coast. 



EzraL'Hommedieu, Esq. (brinerly senator from 

 Suffolk, a very intelligent and ekil!"ul agriculturist 

 of his day, in a communication made to the Agri- 

 cultural Society of tliis State in 1791, says, " many 

 farmers are of opinion that one load of .sea-weed 

 as a manure, is equal to a load of cow-yard ma- 

 nure, for raising wheat." And he says, "that 

 within the two years then preceding, he had used 

 more than 200 loads for wheat only, but he did not 

 find it equal by five loads in thirty; that it was 

 found in some respects superior to any other kind 

 for Indian corn, as it prevents worms and injury 

 from drought ; that the preceding summer, much 

 Indian corn had been cut olT by that means, but 

 where the lands were manured b}^ this weed, the 

 corn was not afi'ected.'" 



It may not be amiss here, while tiuoting from 

 this writer, whose authority is too well remember- 

 ed to permit a question as to the authenticity of 

 his statements, to notice what he says of the ma- 

 nure of mud taken from salt water creeks and 

 swamps, and in which the weed often grows: — 



" JMuii from the creeks on Lon<j: Island and on 

 the sea-coast of some parts of Connecticut, has 

 been made use of as a manure, with success in 

 some instances, when in others no benefit was 

 experienced. This is owing to their using two 

 kinds of mud. In order to determine which is fit 

 for manure, if you run a paddle or a pole into the 

 mud, and it sticks so fast that it is with some diffi- 

 culty you pull it out, you may determine that mud 

 unfit lor manure, it being only loam or clay soaked 

 with water ; but if your paddle or pole is drawn 

 out easily, the mud is fit for manure. This mud 

 being taken out in the summer and exposed to the 

 frost during winter, in the spring, becomes as fine 

 as leached ashes, and is a good manure especially 

 for grass; being spread on poor loamy land, it 

 brings up white clover similar to ashes, though it 

 takes a larger quantity. " 



To return particularly to sea-weed, and to direct 

 attention to lacts, which here have been little if at 

 all noticed. There are many of the Fiici class of 

 sea-weed which elsewhere are, and here may be- 

 come edible. They are used as condiments by 

 families living near the sea-coast in other coun- 

 tries, and by the poor, because in seasons of scar- 

 city they furnish articles of resource as a food. 



There are numerous species employed in gar- 

 dening as manures. 



The laminaria sacc/iarina (sweet fucus or sea- 

 beet) is sometimes boiled by the common people 

 of Enijland as a pot herb. The Icelanders, Au- 

 dubon says, boil it in milk to the consistence of 

 pottage, and eat it with a spoon. They are also 

 said lo soak it in fresh water, dry it in the sun, and 

 then lay it up in wooden vessels. It soon becomes 

 covered with a white efflorescence of salt, which 

 has a sweetish taste, and in this state they eat it 

 with butter. They also feed their cattle with this 

 species. 



The great value of the Iceland and of the Car- 



rigan moss or lichen, in consumptive or pulmona- 

 ry cotnplaints, is well known every where. 



The transparent edible nests oi' the East-India 

 swallow, so much in repute at the luxurious tables 

 of the rich in China and the East, are now gene- 

 rally believed to be almost entirely composed of 

 gelatinous fuci, and more especially of the liche- 

 noides. The plant also is in high estimation for 

 the table in India. 



Of the halymoiia palmaia (L. duise,) both the 

 tender stalks and young fronds are eaten fresh 

 from the sea, conimonly without any preparation. 

 They are sometimes considered as fornfing a 

 salad, but more generally are used as a whet. It 

 is said that the inhabitants of the Greek Islands 

 are fond of this species, adding it to regouts and 

 olios, to which it communicates a red color, and 

 at the same time imparts some of its rich and ge- 

 latinous qualities. The dried leaves infused in 

 water exhale an odor somewhat resembling that 

 of sweet violets, and they communicate that fla- 

 vor to vegetables with which they are mixed. 

 Lighifbot mentions that in the Isle of Skye in 

 Scotland, it is sometimes used in fevers to promote 

 perspiration, being boiled in water with a little 

 butler. It is soft and limber, and does not become 

 rigid in drying, being of a more loose texture than 

 many other sea-weeds. 



The halijmenia edulis (red dulse) is by many 

 preferred lo the h. palmata, especially for cooUing 

 in the frying pan. Like that species, its smel! 

 somewhat resembles sweet violets. 



L,aminaria escuZenfa (badderlocks or henware). 

 The midrib, stripped of its membrane, is the part 

 chiefly eaten. In Orkney, the pinnae are also eat- 

 en under the name of pickles. 



SphcBrococcus clliaius (ciliated dulse,) and la- 

 minaria digitcUa (finrrered dulse, sea girdle and 

 hanfjers,) are sometimes gathered and eaten, like 

 the halymenia edulis, palmaia, and other species. 



Laminaria digiiata. In Scotland, the stem of 

 this species is used for making handles to pruning 

 knives. A pretty thick stem is selected, and cut 

 into pieces about four inches long. Into these, 

 while fresh, the blades are stuck ; and as the stem 

 dries, it contracts and hardens, closely and firmly 

 embracing the hilt of the blade. When these 

 handles have become hard and shrivelled, and 

 have been lipped with metal, they are hardly to 

 be distinguislied liom hart^s horn. 



Chondria pinnat'fida (pepper dulse,) in Scot- 

 land, 'js eaten along willi the Halymenia palmata ; 

 and in Iceland, it is used instead of spice. This 

 species is common \o Scotland, Iceland, the Red 

 Sea, and the shores of Egypt. 



Floating fucus. The succulent fronds, Turner 

 mentions, are selected and pickled like samphire; 

 and the young shoots are eaten as a salad, sea- 

 soned with juice of lemons, pepper and vinegar. 



Ulva laciuca (lettuce leaves or oyster green). 

 The thin green pellucid membranes, of which this 

 vegetable is composed, are eaten raw as a salad, 

 and esteemed a great delicacy by such as are ac- 

 customed to the use of marine vegetables. 



Thus, sir, in answer to your wishes, I have 

 given you what 1 know, or have read of sea- 

 weeds, and their various uses and applications. It 

 may serve to show us that the vegetable kingdom 

 of the ocean, if not as extensive as that of the 

 dry land, has at least i'c treasures, not only to fer- 

 tilize tlie earth, to minister to the weak and the 



