128 
THE SEAWEEDS 
“In October and November the grounds around Tokio Bay are prepared 
for the seaweed crop. At low tide men go out in small boats with bundles 
of bamboo prepared for the purpose. In order to make holes in water up 
to 10ft. or 15ft. deep at high tide, conical wooden boxes or frames are 
pushed down into the muddy bottom, then the bundles of bamboo are 
‘ planted ’ or set out in these holes, with the result that at low tide the ‘field’ 
appears to be covered with bamboo ‘bushes’ in regular lines, like rows of 
corn in a cornfield, only there is much more space between rows. 
“It is known that the spores of Porphyra float in the water before 
dropping down and becoming attached to some object. Here they attach 
themselves to the twigs of the bamboo bushes and develop so rapidly that 
by January they have grown into full-sized plants. Now it is the turn of 
the women and girls who finish the business of harvesting the crop. They 
paddle up and down between the rows of bushes in small boats and with 
the delicate methods of tea-pickers carefully gather the choice rose-red 
fronds from the bamboo twigs. 
‘ 4 The fresh red fronds of Amanori picked from the twigs are thrown into 
tubs of fresh water and stirred with long sticks in order to remove the sand 
and other foreign substances. The plants are then sorted, chopped with 
sharp knives into fine particles, and spread out in sheets of a uniform size 
on bamboo mats placed on inclined frames in the open air. In a short time 
the Amanori sheets are dry. To get them ready for the market they are 
stripped from the mats, pressed, and then made into bundles of ten sheets 
each, the dimensions being approximately lOin. by 14in. The sheets have 
the appearance of dark-brown mottled paper with a glossy surface, and in 
this form they are sold to the consumer under the name of 1 Asakusanori.’ ” 
I have thought it well to quote this account of a unique industry, 
the cultivation of an alga in enclosed sea-waters to furnish human food 
on a large commercial scale. Unfortunately, I do not know localities where 
it could be practised in Australia. 
