126 Thirty-Third Annual Meeting 
tide, are planted in regular lines, deep holes being made for them 
by means of an elongated conical wooden frame, with handles, 
which is forced into the mud by the weight of the fisherman. The 
brush intercepts and affords an attachment for the sea-weed 
spores, which grow so rapidly that by January the plants have 
attained their full size and the cutting of the crop begins. The 
plants die about the time of the vernal equinox, and the active 
business is at a standstill until the ensuing autumn. The best 
grounds for the cultivation of laver are in Tokyo Bay, and are 

YELLOW-TAIL NET AND BOATS. 
leased by the government. In 1901 the area planted with brush 
was 951 acres, and the value of the crop was over $148,000, or 
$156 an acre. In 1903 the same area yielded $300,000, or over 
$310 an acre. The total area of cultivated grounds in the whole 
of Japan is about 2,300 acres, and the value of the sea- 
weeds grown thereon is $400,000 to $500,000. About 3,500 
families are engaged in this form of aquiculture. Small quanti- 
ties of the laver are eaten fresh, but most of it is sun-dried before 
it reaches the consumer. The weeds are washed, picked, sorted, 

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