Mr. DUNDAS WHITEasked the Secretary for Scotland whether those who collect the seaweeds which are cast on the beach by storms in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, in order to use them for the making of kelp and tangle-ash, have to pay rents and royalties for collecting them; what is the approximate quantity of such seaweeds required to produce a ton of kelp or of tangle-ash, respectively; on what are those rents or royalties, if any, based; what do they include in various cases; what are the usual amounts of them, particularly in the Outer Hebrides and the Orkney Islands; what was the estimated annual output of kelp and tangle-ash in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland for the last few years for which figures are available; and what were the average prices per ton?
Mr. McKINNON WOODThe payment of royalties is usual in the Hebrides, and the factor on one or two estates organises the industry on behalf of the crofters; but in Orkney the proprietor usually carries on the business and employs the crofters and pays them wages on a piece-work basis. From twelve to twenty tons of weed are required on the average to make a ton of kelp. The royalty, where collected, is a charge per ton of manufactured kelp. The royalty covers the weed and the use of the land for drying it, stacking it when dried and turning it. On the only Hebridean estate of which the Board has any information the royalty is 1s. 6d. on a ton of kelp and 5s. on a ton of tangle-ash; while in Orkney, on the other hand, the proprietor's gross profit is understood to amount to about half of the price of the kelp. In Orkney the annual output for some years prior to 1912 was 1,700 to 1,800 tons, in the last three years it was 1,533, 1,822 and 1,131 tons respectively; while in South Uist, the other district where most kelp is made, the output in recent years has usually been about 1,000 tons. The price per ton ranged from £4 to £5 in the period immediately preceding the War.