NEW ENGL-ANB FARMEK. 



Published by John B. Russell, at M>. 52 -J^orth Market Street, (mer the Agricullaral, Warehouse).— Tiiovx s G. Fessenpem, Editor. 



VOL. VII. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, AUGU? i'l^l, 1828. 



No. 2. 



THE ARTS. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



KELP, OR CRUDE SODA. 



Mr. Fessenden,— Consiiienng the vast increase 

 of tlie niuimfaoturing establishments in our country 

 it lii-i-y be tliought extraordinary tliat the manu- 

 facture of kelp or crude i^oda has not received the 

 attention of our industrious and enterprizing citi- 

 zens ; tiiose especially, who are particularly inter- 

 ested in tlie bleaching, soap, and glass estabhsh- 

 ments. The plants from which kelp may be ob- 

 tained are to be found in inexhaustible abundance 

 on our shores without the trouble of culture ; es- 

 pecially at Cape Ann and Marblehead, and arc 

 frequently employed as a manure. The manufac- 

 ture is so simple as to require no scientific know- 

 ledge ; a few days' experience on a small scale 

 would enable any person to prosecute the business 

 exten.sively, and no doubt to great pecuniary ad- 

 vantage. In conversing with a gentleman inter- 

 ested and experienced in the great bleaching es- 

 tablishment at Dover, N. H. he manifested a dis- 

 position to introduce and encourage the use of 

 Ameri'-an kelp if he could be furnished with a 

 sample for experimental trial, and it should be 

 found to answer the desired purpose. The Ame- 

 rican article may, it is presumed, be afforded at a 

 lower price than the imported. 



Fuci is the botanical or generic term for tho 

 various si)ecies of marine plants commonly known" 

 by the names of sea-weed, sea-wreck, and sea- 

 ware. They are found on flats at lov/ water, or 

 attached to rocks near the shore and in coves, it 

 has been ascertained that Piici grows with aston- 

 ishing rapidjty from floating seeds lodged on roclcs 

 and stones. 



Pud vesiculosus. In this species, the frond is a 

 leaf-like .substance resembling leather or parch- 

 ment, midribbed, the stem forked or parting in 

 pairs one after another. The vesicles or air blad- 

 ders are globular and innate in the membrane of 

 the frond. It is readily distinguished from Fuci 

 nodosus by the air bladders very generally occur- 

 ring in parallel pairs, while in nodosus they ari^ 

 single -, and from F. serratus by the edges of the 

 frond being entire or wanting the serratures which 

 mark that species. It is generally from one t*. 

 three feet in length. One pound of the ashes 

 gives three ounces of kelp. This species is most 

 highly prized for the manufacture of kelp. 



Fuci nodosus. The frond is leathery, compress- 

 ed, veinless, branched, and feathery, the recepta- 

 cles are divided and hav« a small stem, roundish, 

 mostly solitary. Fronds from two to six feet in 

 length and at short distances swell into large air 

 blubbers. 



Fuci serratus. Frond, leathery, flat, midribbed, 

 divided ; serrated at the margins. Receptacles 

 solitary, flat at the ends of the stem, serrated, 

 sharpish. It grows in deep water, and is oidy 

 uncovered at the ebb of the tide. This is inferior 

 . for kelp. 



Fuci lorcus. This is the small kind, growing 



abundantly on rocks, and is called rock-weed.— 



This yields well in excellent kelp. It consists of 



' a shnple frond v/ithout branches, and is sometimes 



called catgut. It affords considerable quantities 

 of kelp. _ ;. 



Fuel pahnaius, is the kind known by the name 

 of dulse. It is divided deeply and spreatiing so as 

 to^esemble the hand with the fingers spread. This 

 also yields good kelp. 



The public are indebted to Dr. John Revere, 

 now of New York, for the following valuable com- 

 munication, relative to the crude sodas of com- 

 merce. It has been published in Professor Silli- 

 man's excellent journal, for December la^t, and 

 merits a repubUcation in the New England Farm- 

 er, for the benefit of our citizens who reside on 

 our sea coast. J- T. 



Plymouth, July 17, 1828. 



Some Remarks on the Crude Sodas of Commerce ; by 

 John Revere, M. D. Lecturer on Chemistry, ap- 

 plied to the Arts, at the Maryland Institute for the 

 Promotion of the Arts and Manufactures. 



New York.Oclob.r 15. IS27. 

 Sir — In a course of lectures on chemistry, ap- 

 plied to the arts, I had occasion to collect the facts 

 contained in the following paper. To those who 

 are familiar with the science of chemistry, there 

 will be httle that is new. I have b_'en induced to 

 ofi'cr these remarks to your Journal; rather from 

 its title I'lan the general scope of its contents 



ich I observe are almost purely scientific— 

 The importance of tliis substance in the useful 

 arts, the ignorance observed among manufactur- 

 ers and dealers respecting its nature, and th ■ 

 shameful impositions sometimes practised, consti- 

 tute its chief claim to your nttention. The facth 

 stated may be relied upon, as they have been es- 

 tablished by repeated experiments. 



JOHN REVERE, M. D. 



Crude soda, in whatc er manner procured, is 

 generally known in this country, among maiuifac- 

 turers and merchants, by the name of barilla. — 

 But as the value of '.tie article depends very much 

 upon the former circ imstance, it will be proper to 

 observe, that it is rlitained as an article of mer- 

 chandize, chiefly in four dififerent modes, viz. 1. 

 in a saline form, on the surface of the earth, and 

 from the water rf certain lakes ; 2, from the in- 

 cineration of certain land plants ; 3, from the com- 

 bustion of marine plants ; and 4, from the decom- 

 position of sea salt by chemical processes. 



The crude soda, formerly known by the name 

 of natron, is found in considerable quantities in 

 Egypt, the if.terior'of Africa, and in South Amer- 

 ica. It exists in lakes, and in particular districts, 

 and form* an efflorescence upon the surface of 

 the earth rhiring the dry season. I am not aware 

 that in tl s form, it is known as an article of com- 

 merce, in the United States. 



The most vahiable of the crude sodas known 

 in this country, are obtained by the incineration of 

 several kinds of plants which grow in the vicinity 

 of the s. a. The best is brought from Alicant. 

 Malaga, and Carthagena, in Spain ; it is obtained 

 from an annual plant, the sclsola sativa, which is 

 cultivated and securd like hay, and afterwards 

 burnt in hf)les dug in the earth. From the great 

 quantity of soda it contains, it melts into thick 

 paste, which on cooling, becomes condensed into 

 a stonelike mass ; the popular name of this plant 



in Spaui, is barilla. So highly is this jjlant es- 

 teemed in Spain, that, according to Mr Parkes, 

 the exportation of the seed is prohibited, under 

 penalty of death. Tliere are several varieties ot 

 the salsola cuhivated on the shores of the Medi- 

 terranean, especially in the island of Sicily, and 

 also in the Canary- Ish^s, which yield an abun- 

 dance of soili>r' ror convenience, all the crude 

 sodas obtained by the combustion of land plants, 

 may be called baiilla. The barilla most common 

 in our market is brought from Spain, Sicily, Ten- 

 erifle. Although many parts of the United States 

 are favorably situated, I have known but one at- 

 temjjt to cultivate them. It was made on the 

 eastern shore of Maryland, from seed |)rocured 

 for the purpose in Sicdy. Tiie attempt failed, 

 owing evideiiUy to the imperfection of the seed. 

 Tlie incredeed demand for soda for the arts, 

 throughout the civilized vvorhl, has led men to 

 seek other sources from which this useful sub- 

 stance niay be procured. Modern science and in- 

 dustry have succeeded in extracting a large sup- 

 ply fiom marine plants, which were accounted so 

 entirely worthless among the ancients, that alga 

 projectd. vilior w;is a connnon proverb at Rome. — 

 The substance procured by the eonibustion of 

 thet.e picviits is called by the French varech, and 

 by the Knglislj kelp. The inhabitants of the coast 

 of Europe hare been in the habit, from time im- 

 memorial, of collecting the sea weed, wrack or sea 

 ware, as it is indiscriminately called in Great 

 Britain, und ^nni/ufacturing it into a coarse alkali, 

 for domestic i)uri)oges. It is only, however, v\ith- 

 in a century that any attempt has been mode in 

 Great Britain to prei)are the kelp in a large way. 

 it was in the year 1723 that this substance war 

 first brought into the market as an article of mer- 

 chandize. But the great consumption of the al- 

 kalies in the modern arts, especially by the bleach 

 er, soap and glass mamifacturer, and other manu- 

 facturing chemists, has attracted more and more 

 attention to the subject, until the manufacture of 

 kelp in Gn at Britain has become a very impor- 

 tant department of industry. I am under the im- 

 pression that kelp has never been brought into 

 our market, or attempted to be manufactured in 

 the United States, but as it appears to me that this 

 manufacture may be introduced advantageousU 

 among us, I i)ropose to give some accoimt of the 

 most approved method at present practised, in the 

 hope that it may direct the attention of those per- 

 sons to the subject, who are conveniently situated 

 for making the attemirt. From the increase of 

 our manufactures, and as all the crude sndns at 

 present consumed are imported, it is liigidy prob- 

 able that there would be a full demand for the ar- 

 ticle. The material may, for the trouble of col- 

 lecting it, be had in immense quantities, along our 

 extensive sea coast, nor can anything be cheaper 

 -r more simple than its manufacture. Some idea 

 ,nay be formed of the advantages that may be de- 

 rived from this manufacture, from the great and 

 obviously increasing importance that is attached 

 to the subject in Great Britain. There are fre- 

 quent communications on the subject in then- best 

 journals, an<l prizes offered to encourage its culti- 

 vation, by their societies for the promotign of the 

 arts and manufactures. As long ago as 1798, n 



