3-008-975 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Zostera marina, or grass-wrack, Mr. Harben's proposed substitute for cotton, 1862. The Civil War in America affected cotton imports needed to sustain the British textile industry. 'The crop [Zostera marina, a type of seagrass] is not one that can be sown and reaped like cotton; we are dependent entirely on what the sea throws up, and must employ it in the state presented. Thus, though seaweed is a very cheap raw material, zostera may become an expensive one'. From "Illustrated London News", 1862.