CARRAGEEN IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
801 
The washing is done in the tubs on the hanks of the creeks which intersect the 
marshes and often approach the beach. Salt water alone can be used, as the moss is 
very soluble in fresh. The tubs are quickly filled with a “ long-handled" bucket, which 
must be an Irish invention, taking rank with the long-handled shovel. It is, albeit, 
a very expeditious method of filling half-a-dozen half-hogsheads. In the “wash 
the moss is well rinsed, and all floating pieces of tapegrass picked off. The water is 
then allowed to drain off, provided there be any unabsorbed, and the tub thrown on to 
its chine, and dexterously rolled back to the beds. The spreading is repeated, and pre¬ 
sently the whole is turned with a rake,—the curer, if he be a careful one, still picking 
out the poor pieces. The mosser gives a great deal of attention to the bleaching, which, 
in fine weather, is accomplished in about six washings. At low tide he still continues 
the pull with the boat and rake. 
When the beds are covered with moss, the heavens are as anxiously scanned as ever 
in hay-time, and on the approach of rain a bustle is incident that is only equalled by 
that of the haymaker. The moss, if dry, is snugly cocked up like hay, and covered 
with canvas. If the bad weather continues some time, it is as fatal to the carrageen as 
to the hay, and is bound to turn out a damaged article, if circumstances are not the 
most favourable. If exposed to a long rain, it rapidly dissolves. 
At the spring tides the beds are generally covered with the freshly gathered moss, 
looking black and uninviting ; but as the bleaching advances, the peats first appear to 
turn to a delicate red colour, and finally assume a yellowish whiteness that is very 
pleasing to the eye. When the carrageen is properly cured it is stored in bulk in the 
shanties. As leisure comes, it begins to find its way into barrels. This is a time of 
temptation. A barrel of well-cured and honestly-packed moss should certainly never 
exceed a hundi'ed pounds, and the average weight should be less than that. I hey 
frequently are made to weigh one hundred and twenty-five pounds. Specimens of our 
beach sand have doubtless been admired wherever Irish moss has found a consumer. 
Sometimes the moss gathers dampness at packing-time, which is the more singular, as 
the weather is generally dry. t . 
The careful mosser still picks over, and sorts as he picks, and his moss is now a white, 
clean, and saleable article. A boy “treads in” as the final picking goes on. The nails 
that jingle in his pockets to the tune he whistles will hold the hoops and heads in 
their places. The barrel then awaits shipment, per packet, to Boston. 
About the first of September the majority of the mossers close up their work on the 
beach, and fit out for the herring fishing. A few linger and cure another pull, n the 
weather favors. ... 
As the number of men who make it their business to collect and cure this plant is in¬ 
creasing every year, the question is often asked, “Will it run out? It is not certain 
that the rocks, like some well-tilled soils, are increasing in depth and fertility, but it is 
certain that the moss grows of a better quality and quite as quickly, the oftener it is 
pulled. 
Its Uses .—There is always a demand for a prime article of Irish moss for culinary 
purposes, but the amount thus consumed is comparatively small, as a limited quantity of 
moss yields a large amount of jelly. In the form of blanc-mange , it is an agreeable and 
nutritious article of food. 
In Ireland carrageen is highly esteemed for its medical virtues, being legalded by 
some as a universal panacea. It was once a fashionable remedy in consumptive cases. 
As a demulcent for colds and fevers, it is very effective. Carrageen has been much con¬ 
founded with Cetraria islandica (Iceland moss), which contains starch along with a 
bitter principle, used as a tonic and demulcent. This opinion has extensivel) pre\ ailed, 
and many still assert that the edible Algce of Ireland and the lichen of Iceland are iden- 
Its most important use is as sizing, it being used in the manufacture of cloth, paper, 
and felt and straw hats. The poorer qualities of moss are bought up for size. The 
hand-pulled moss, however, contains more starchy matter than the variety which is 
never exposed to the air. The second quality of moss is sold to the brewers. All beers, 
when well brewed and sound, after a certain repose, become transparent or ‘ blight, as 
it is sometimes termed. When, however, bee* is sent out very new, it is necessarj to 
“ fine” it, or impart to it that “ brilliant transparency ’ which is so agreeable to the eye 
This is done by means of finings. In Europe isinglass is used for this purpose, and a 
