the manufacture of kelp. 287 



Orkney and Shetland Islands. 



1.200 tons drift weed kelp, at £6 £7,200 



150 „ cut „ „ „ 2 10s 375 



1,350 £7,575 



Ireland. 



2,500 tons drift weed kelp, at £4 £10,000 



„ 3 10s 1,750 



„ 5 5,000 



,, 6 3,000 



„ 6 5s 1,250 



„ 7 560 



,, 2 13s 3,445 



500 



>> 



5> 



1,000 



■>■> 



» 



500 



» 



» 



200 



55 



J) 



80 



» 



55 



1,300 



n 



cut weed 



6,080 £25,005 



Total Amount of Kelp, and Average Price, for the Years 1860-61, 



Scotland, ... 4,350 tons, at about £3 17s., valued at £16,775 

 Ireland ... 6,080 „ at 4 2s., „ 25,005 



10,430 £41,780 



In round numbers, tbe average yield of British kelp may be taken at 

 10,000 tons, giving, at 41. per ton, an annual income of 40,000?. 



Tbis quantity of kelp represents about 200,000 tons of wet weed, an 

 amount wbicb, large as it seems, is insignificant compared to the immense 

 masses of sea-weed annually deposited on the coasts of Great Britain and 

 Ireland. The best drift weeds appear to be torn up from the Atlantic, as 

 they are found chiefly on the western coasts in Guernsey and Jersey, the best 

 are taken from the bays on the west coast. The " cut weed " is the same 

 all round tbe islands. A great deal of drift weed, however, tinds its way up 

 the Channel, and is washed in and out of the numerous harbours and 

 thrown on the flat coasts, this is particularly the case in Brading Haven, 

 in the Isle of Wight, where it is carried in and out in large quantities. 

 Many thousands of tons of sea-weed of various kinds are deposited 

 annually on the coasts of Sussex, but a small portion of which is iitilised. 

 Kelp is also still manufactured on the coast of Normandy in France. The 

 weeds obtained are very similar to those of the Channel Islands. MM. 

 Tissier, aind, et fils, of Finisterre, are the principal manufacturers of iodine 

 and potash in France. Their statements will astonish those who consider Eng- 

 land to be in advance in this branch of industry ; their position among the 

 first and largest lixiviators of kelp, and their well-known name, are alike 

 guarantees of their ability to judge, and to speak practically of this question 

 They estimate the total annual production of kelp (soude brut) in France 

 at 25,000,000 kilogrammes ; this is about 24,000 tons, or more than 

 double the yield of the kelp shores of Great Britain. MM. Tissier alone, 

 in their Usine de Conquet, work annually 4,000,000 to 5,000,000 kilo- 



