Ngā Rauropi Whakaoranga

Uses of agar for canning and laboratory cultures. Until World War 2, imported from Japan. Describes Botany Division search for best algae. Pterocladia lucida for trialling collected by children from Native schools in Bay of Plenty. Once commercial scale production started, coastal Maori were main collectors. Up to April 1944, over 120 tons of dry weed collected.