SEAWEED INDUSTRIES OF JAPAN. 



14 l J 



sulphate) was employed, but the use of copper in this way has recently been pro- 

 hibited by the government, and an aniline dye (malachite green) is now employed, 

 although the latter is regarded with less favor by the manufacturers. The kelp is 

 thoroughly cooked, and is saturated with the dye. which remains insoluble. 



(2) The dyed fronds are drained and then taken into the open air. where they 

 are either spread on straw mats or suspended on poles to dry. In order to econo- 

 mize space, a tier of horizontal poles covered with kelp may be placed between two 

 upright poles, and in the yards of many of the kombu works the lines of freshly 

 dyed kelp may lie seen high in the air. 



(3) When the drying has proceeded to a point where the surface of the kelp is 



Kelp fishermen of Hokkaido. 



no longer wet, the fronds, taken one at a time and carefully spread, are rolled into 

 wheel-shaped masses about 1 foot in diameter, in order to facilitate subsequent 

 handling. The rolls are tied by ropes to keep them in shape, and then go to women, 

 who unroll the fronds one by one and arrange them flat in wooden frames, making a 

 pile H feet high, 5 or 6 inches wide, and the full length of the fronds. Each pile is 

 then tightly compressed by four transverse cords, and cut by means of aknife into 

 four equal lengths, each held by a cord. 



(4) The cut pieces are then arranged by hand in a rectangular frame 4 to 5 feet 

 square, its thickness corresponding to the length of the sections of seaweed. When 

 the frame is filled by the evenly arranged pieces, which are sprinkled with water in 

 order that they may pack more closely, the whole mass is highly compressed by 



