On 11/9/04 13:56, in article , "Kay"
wrote:

In article , Sacha
writes

Here's a quote from the site:
"Work by F Woodland Toms, Jersey's Official Analyst for over 40 years, shows
that dried vraic is three to four times as effective as a fertiliser than
the fresh weed."

On what basis? By weight? By volume?

The fresh weed has a large water content - is the 'increased
effectiveness' anything more than the result of applying it 'neat'
rather than 'diluted'?

(I have in mind that in cooking one uses about 4 times as much of the
fresh herb than the same herb dried)

I can't tell you the science behind it all and if you haven't looked at the
site there is this quote:

"The best sort of vraic for use in these circumstances is the dried variety,
which, not so many years ago, was prepared in stacks near the shoreline at
La Rocque, La Pulente and L'Etacq.

Work by F Woodland Toms, Jersey's Official Analyst for over 40 years, shows
that dried vraic is three to four times as effective as a fertiliser than
the fresh weed.

His analysis also showed that collet (kelp) is richer in potash than other
seaweeds and that cliaque (green weed, such as sea lettuce) is rich in
nitrogen.

Perhaps surprisingly, vraic taken in the spring is richer than autumn weed
collected after a summer's growth.

The rate of application for wet vraic is up to 20 tons per vergée and six
tons per vergée for the dried version.

Mr Thomas says that a traditional vraitcheur would aim to collect about 16
loads or 50 tons a day during the height of the vraicing season."

If you emailed the Societe Jersiaise, they might be able to give you more
info on the breakdown. http://www.societe-jersiaise.org/

Apparently, at one time, the vraic also used to be cut and burned by farmers
and the ash spread on the land. That practice appears to have died
altogether and now it is gathered after storms and spread on the land - if
anyone bothers to do it!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)