3O 



THE LUMBER TRADE JOURNAL 



[January 1, 1912. 



Though it is spoken of as moss wherever it is 

 known, it is not a true moss, as botanists define 

 it, but a leaf-bearing, flowering plant of the pine 

 apple family, that lives on air and water, and 

 uses the tree chiefly as a support to hang on. It 

 seems probable that it was carried to our shores 

 from the West Indies, but not in historic times. It 

 grows in the vicinity of the coast from Virginia 

 to Texas. A single tree may bear a ton, though 

 usually much less. The plant hangs in strands from 

 a few inches long to many feet. Ten feet is not 

 unusual, fifteen is occasional, and a single strand 

 21 feet long, observed in Calcasieu Parish, was the 

 longest seen during the investigation of the in- 

 dustry in the spring of 1911. 



The plant bears a small, solitary green flower, 

 so inconspicuous that few persons notice it. The 

 seed is covered with fine hairs which render it suf- 

 ficiently buoyant to float long distances on the wind. 

 When the seed strikes the side of a tree, or a 

 branch, the hairs adhere to the bark and hold the 

 seed until it has had time to germinate. Rootlets 

 fasten themselves in minute crevices of the bark 

 and the plant hangs there and grows. Strands 

 wind themselves around twigs, limbs or protuber- 

 ances of bark, and the rootlets soon decay. Thence- 

 forth the plant, or moss as it is called, hangs like 

 clothes on a line, and all the nourishment it gets 

 comes from air and water. It may be propogated 

 without seed. Tufts of the moss may be blown by 

 wind, or carried by birds in building nests, and it 

 securely fastened to the branch of a tree, they 

 may grow. The plant more frequently spreads by 

 that means than by the scattering of seeds. 



The moss is used in upholstery for stuffing mat- 

 tresses, cushions, and saddles and has been so 

 employed for generations. It is not, therefore, a 

 new thing, but its use has greatly increased in re- 

 cent years. Louisiana is said to furnish much more 

 than half of the world's supply, and a brief account 

 of the industry lliere should be of interest. 



Harvesting the Crop. 



Though the moss is planted naturally, and grows 

 wild, its gathering and preparation for use must be 

 done with due regard to season. Practically all 

 the crop in Louisiana is harvested by negroes who 

 go about it singly or in small companies at times 

 of year when plantation work is slack. The moss 

 hangs on trees along the borders of swales and In 

 deep swamps, some of it near the ground, other 

 on branches all the way to the tops of the tallest 

 trees. The gatherer's chief care is to bring it 

 down. Sometimes he climbs the trees, pulls it 

 loose and lets it fall. He often takes serious chances 

 by going out on limbs to make a clean pick. Others 

 do not climb, but use long poles with sickle-like 

 hooks to bring the moss down. Still others con- 

 tent themselves with gathering what may be reached. 

 by hand, or such as may be blown down by wind. 

 Since most of the moss, if left to grow, will sooner 

 or later be blown down, the harvesters have only 

 to bide their time, and they will secure most of 

 it on the ground. Many of the swamps are cov- 

 ered with water most of the time. In such places 

 the gathering is done in boats that are pushed 

 among the trees; but this method has its disad- 

 vantages, the chief of which is that overhanging 

 branches constantly rake the moss from the boat 

 into the water. The moss-gatherers find their best 

 harvest when timber cutting is carried on where 

 moss is plentiful. They can harvest the whole 

 crop without climbing. When moss is stripped from 

 standing trees, a new crop grows in a year or two. 

 Though it will hang a considerable time after the 

 tree that bears it has died, it seldom, if ever, at- 

 taches itself and grows on a dead tree. Some in- 

 sist that moss kills trees, but this view should be 

 accepted with reserve; for a tree has borne its load 

 of moss as long as the oldest resident can remem- 

 ber, with no noticeable injury to the tree's vitality. 



Curing Moss. 



After moss is picked from the trees it is rotted 

 or cured after the manner of flax, and for the same 

 purpose, namely, to get rid of the waste portion 

 of the stalk. It is the inner, hard stalk of flax 

 which is objectionable; but it is the outer, powdery 

 bark of the moss which the rotting removes. The 

 real body of the moss, the fibro-vescular skeleton, 

 is a long, slender, horsehair-like thread extending 

 the whole length of the plant. This is the valuable 

 part, and it is separated from the outer bark by 

 rotting. To do this the moss is piled in heaps on 

 damp ground, or in water, and is covered with thin 

 earth. Its slow combustion generates sufficient heat 

 to burn off the outer bark, and a mass resembling 

 black horsehair is left, and that after it has re- 

 ceived certain other treatment becomes the moss 

 of commerce. Tha time allowed a heap to complete 

 its rotting process varies depending on the owner's 

 hurry to sell it. At the end of ten days the heap 

 is hot enough to burn the hand if thrust beneath 

 the surface. At the end of thirty days much of 

 the hull or bark has disappeared, and the moss 



has grown dark, but is not yet black. If the owner 

 is Impatient to realize on it, he sells it at that stage, 

 but receives a low price, because the product is yet 

 in a crude state known In the trade as "gray 

 moss." He may receive a cent or a cent and a 

 quarter a pound when he has carried it to the 

 dealer. The longer it is left in the rotting pile the 

 blacker it becomes, and the more it is worth. It is 

 not profitable, however, to leave it more than three 

 months, and few leave it that long. The best 

 three-months moss sells for four cents per pound. 

 The bulk and weight diminish as the rotting pro. 

 cess is lengthened, and though the price per pound 

 increases, there are fewer pounds. 



Process of Drying. 



Dealers insist that moss offered for sale must 

 be comparatively dry. If it is otherwise, they de- 

 duct liberally for its dampness, and the seller has 

 learned by experience that there is little profit in 

 wet moss. Therefore, he makes an effort to dry 

 it before it goes to market. In traveling through 

 the moss-producing regions of Louisiana, one often 

 sees the fences, sheds, clothes lines, and other ob- 

 jects about cabins covered with moss, hung there to 

 dry, after it has completed the process of the rotting 

 heap. Wind and sun dry it in a day or two, and 

 it is ready for its first market. It should be ex- 

 plained that the moss usually passes through two 

 successive markets before it reaches the ultimate 

 consumer. The first is the country store which 

 buys it from the people who gather it; second Is 

 the wholesaler who gins it, bales it, and ships it 

 to near and distant regions. 



The Market. 



Local dealers, generally country merchants, bar- 

 ter with gatherers for their moss. Payment is 

 sometimes made in money, but usually in merchan- 

 dise, such as groceries, shoes, and clothing. The 

 moss finds its way to the country stores by many 

 modes of conveyance, in sacks carried on shoulders 

 or head, in wagons, carts, sometimes by boat or 

 canoe; and in quantities ranging from a ton or 

 more down to a few pounds. The country or vil- 

 lage store-keeper puts it up in bales weighing sev- 

 eral hundred pounds, and bound with old rope or 

 wire. He ships it to the wholesalers in New Or- 

 leans or elsewhere. Much goes to that city by 

 boat, and immense piles of it may often be seen 

 at the wharfs, whence it is hauled to the ware- 

 houses and gins to be cleaned, rebaled, and sent 

 all over the world. The annual crop in Louisiana 

 amounts to millions of pounds when bought by the 

 country merchants, and the gatherers receive ap- 

 proximately $250,000 for it. The wholesalers who 

 clean it and sell it to consumers expend consid- 

 erable money in the process, and by ginning it re- 

 duce the weight almost one-half; but they receive 

 higher prices, and their annual sales reach about 

 half a million dollars. The best is worth ten cents 

 a pound. 



Ginning. 



When the moss reaches the wholesaler it is filled 

 with many impurities which must be removed be- 

 fore it is fit for the consumer. It contains twigs, 

 sticks, leaves, and bark. Some of the wholesalers 

 clean the moss by hand, paying operators by the 

 pound for the work. Hand-picked moss is usually 

 rated a little higher than that cleaned by machinery, 

 because the threads are less broken. Until a few 

 years ago all moss was cleaned by hand, and if 

 dyed, as much of it was, it was afterwards dried 

 like clothes on lines. Some still do it that way; but 

 the gin now does most of the cleaning. An up-to- 

 date moss gin requires an engine of 100 horse 

 power. The moss arrives in bales of some hundreds 

 of pounds. It is fed into machines which remove 

 the impurities, frequently as much as 800 pounds 

 for a ton of crude moss. Although every known 

 appliance for preventing the escape of dust into 

 the air is made use of, the process is very trying 

 on the lungs of operatives. The position of feed- 

 ers the putting of moss into the machines and 

 off-hearers of refuse are so trying that few can 

 do the work. However, men are occasionally found 

 who fill the places without apparent discomfort, 

 though much of the time almost lost from sight In 

 clouds of dust. The operatives are nearly all ne- 

 groes, men and women, and some have done the 

 same tasks many years, with little vacation or holi- 

 day. The dirt which is removed in the process of 

 ginning supplies a considerable part of the factory's 

 fuel. The moss which goes into the machines :i 

 gray mass, comes out clean black. Electric hoists 

 pick up hundreds of pounds at a time and carry 

 it to dye vats where it is made a shining black, 

 after which it passes through dryers, and is then 

 pressed into bales of from 40 to 100 pounds, and is 

 ready for the markets of the world. It looks like 

 hair, and many persons who buy it in cushions and 

 upholstery suppose it is hair. There is a test which 

 will determine this. A hair drawn between the nails 



of the finger and thumb will pass smoothly its 

 whole length. A thread of moss so drawn will 

 show a joint or rough place every two or three 

 inches. The cost of hair is about 50 cents a pound, 

 the cost of the best moss 10 cents. A moss mat- 

 tress or cushion, under usual conditions, is good 

 for eight or ten years.* 



*In ginning moss constant vigilance is required to pre- 

 vent solid bodies from going into the machines. The 

 temptation to put heavy objects in the bales to make 

 them weigh more seems well nigh Irresistible. Stones, 

 brick, plough shares, flat Irons, log chains, and axes, are 

 neatly stowed away in the center, and In one case a large 

 iron pump was found, and In another a 98-pound lump of 

 lead. Inasmuch as the wholesalers tag every bale as It 

 comes In, they are generally able to ship the stones and 

 bricks back to the men that sold them, but Iron and lead 

 are worth more by the pound than the crude moss, so 

 these are sold to junk dealers. 



Dealers prefer winter-picked moss, for it is then 

 dryer, as it does not grow in cold weather. They 

 claim that moss growing on some trees is much 

 better than that on others, and experts who handle 

 much of it claim to be able to determine the spe- 

 cies of trees on which it grew by simply examining 

 the moss. The strongest moss grows on cypress, 

 and for most purposes is conidered the best; but 

 that growing on live oak is more elastic. Next in 

 the scale comes tupelo moss. The bulk of the sup- 

 ply comes from these three species, probably be- 

 cause they are more abundant than other species 

 in the swampy tracts and fog belts where moss 

 reaches its best growth. Moss from pine trees is 

 said to be unmarketable. In fact, little moss grows 

 on pines, perhaps because they usually occupy dry 

 tracts. Dealers, however, with one accord, declare 

 that pine moss is worthless.* 



No attempt Is here made to reconcile the conflicting 

 claims of botanists who say that the moss takes nothing 

 from the tree, but simply hangs on It, and the moss buy- 

 ers who declare that the quality of moss depends upon the 

 species of the tree which bears It. Perhaps there Is lack 

 of data to support the statement that the moss prefers 

 certain species, other things being equal, hut willow seems 

 remarkably free from Its presence, while live oak, cypress, 

 tupelo, and haekberry though mixed with the willows, 

 are often loaded with it. In fact, observations In more 

 than thirty parishes of Louisiana, in course of this study, 

 failed to show a single Instance of moss growing on wil- 

 low, though dead bundles, carried by wind, frequently 

 hang on the branches of this tree. 



As a forest resource, moss in Louisiana is in no 

 immediate danger of exhaustion. The present de- 

 mand is met without difficulty. Little moss is now 

 being gathered north of Lakes Pontehartrain and 

 Maurepas where much grows, and many other pro- 

 ducing regions are practically untouched. The de- 

 pletion of the supply will probably not come until 

 the swamp forests have been cut. 



USES OF WOOD. 



Manufacturers and others in Louisiana report 

 uses for different woods as follows: 



AMERICAN HOLLY Brush backs. 



BASSWOOD. Boxes, horse collars (bark). 



BEECH. Boxes, crates, gearwheel teeth, heavy 

 wagon felloes, veneer, wagon bolsters. 



BLACK CHERRY. Furniture, plane handles, to- 

 bacco pipes. 



BLACK GUM. Boxes, crates, excelsior, ox yokes, 

 rollers. 



BLACK JACK. Chair backs, chair seats, table 

 legs, wagon tongues, reaches, bolsters, sandboards, 

 felloes, spokes. 



BLACK SPRUCE. Boat spars. 



BLACK WALNUT. Taborets, screen doors. 



BLACK WILLOW. Baseball bats, boats, boxes, 

 crates, furniture shelving, wagon beds. 



BUCKTHORN BRUMELIA. Boxes, crosscut saw 

 handles, fence posts, small cabinet work. 



CATALPA. Boat knees, brackets, newel posts, 

 small furniture. 



CEDAR ELM. Chair stock, hoops, trunk slats, 

 wagon poles. 



CHESTNUT. Caskets, coffins, office fixtures. 



CHITTIMWOOD. Saw handles, wedges. 



CIRCASSIAN WALNUT. Finish, furniture. 



COTTONWOOD. Carriage panels, cracker boxes, 

 egg cases, excelsior, furniture shelving, kitchen 

 tables, sugar barrel heading, trunks, wagon beds. 



COW OAK. Canthook handles, chair stock, furni- 

 ture, vehicles, axels, bolsters, felloes, hubs, 

 hounds, reaches, spokes, tongues, wagon bed bot- 

 toms, woven or braided chair bottoms and backs, 

 woven baskets for laundry and plantation. 



CUBAN PINE. Balusters, bed slats, boats, boxes, 

 car siding, ceiling, doors, excelsior, flooring, frames, 

 grain doors, molding, wagon bottoms, weatherboard- 

 ing. 



CYPRESS. Balusters, barges, beer vats, blinds, 

 boats, boxes, brackets, bric-a-brac, butter tubs, ca- 

 binets, car siding, caskets, ceiling, chairs, china 

 closets, churns, cisterns, coffins, columns, conduits, 

 cotton gins, cross arms, doors, doughtray, drying 

 racks, dyetubs, fence lath, finish, flooring, frames, 

 furniture, garden sash, gavels, hothouse frames, 

 hothouse sash, ladders, lath, mantels, milk buckets, 

 molding, motor boat finish, newel posts, panels, pat- 



