boxes, which boxes have a cover put on them perforated with a couple of holes. The box containing only the fish is then plunged into a bath of pickle, where it remains until it fills itself, then the box, now full of fish and pickle, goes through a second cooking. When all hot, filled with steam, the two minute holes are closed with solder, a label is put on, and the moss-bunker, now metamorphosed into "ocean trout," instead of being turned into oil or being employed as a top-dressing for sterile soil, makes quite a delectable food, and doubtless to-day the advance of civilization in the United States is shown in remote portions of the country by cairns made up entirely of empty tin boxes once filled with edible moss-bunker. Goodale's "Extract of fish." 192. The Hon. S. L. Goodale, of Saco, Me. (secretary of the Maine Board of Agriculture from 1856–1873), has invented a process by which the juices of the flesh of fish are extracted to form an article of food which promises to be of much commercial value. He writes: "Some time since the idea was conceived by me and reduced to practice of concentrating the juices of the flesh of fish into a food extract. The attempts were successful and the product satisfactory, bearing close resemblance to Liebig's extractum carnis, and possessing a like percentage of saline constituents and extractive matter, soluble in alcohol. My results thus far indicate that the more abundantly occurring Clupeida appear to be much better adapted to this use than any other fish yet tested, especially the menhaden and the herring, the latter having a more distinctively fish flavor, the former more nearly a simply rich-cooked meat flavor. The alewife I have not yet proved, but anticipate excellent results from its employment. "During the two seasons past I have worked a few barrels of menhaden at a time, at intervals of a fortnight or more, to see if the juices varied in flavor or richness. My apparatus is imperfect, and although the extract must be, judging from my former experience with beef extract, inferior in flavor to what it would be if prepared with a vacuum pan and all suitable conveniences, it is good enough to elicit many commendations. No one needs less than yourself to be told how great are the possibilities for this new project. From each barrel of menhaden, as taken, I get three pounds of extract when flesh alone is used and four pounds if the spine is retained in dressing. And my rejections yield just as much oil and scrap as any manufacturers get who treat them for this alone. The skins may be used to make glue. I remove them by scalding quickly, in either mode of dressing. The details of manufacture are fully worked out. Considering the large amount of fish annually taken and hitherto treated for oil and scrap alone, the juices of which have been allowed to run back into the ocean as a worthless by-product, I cannot avoid the conclusion that a new source of food is within reach, which at no distant day may contribute materially to human welfare." Mr. Goodale exhibited specimens of the extract of fish at the International Exhibition in Philadelphia. The writer has had an opportunity of testing the qualities of the preparation and can testify to its agreeable flavor and manifestly nutritive properties. Two tablespoonfuls of the jelly dissolved in hot water yield a large dish of savory soup, most closely resembling the potage consommé of the French cooks. Professor S. W. Johnson, of Yale College, wrote to Mr. Goodale: "I cannot doubt that the fish extract is entirely new, and as food or stimulant is equal to beef extract in all respects (except possibly in the matter of iron), and if put into the market in the proper shape would shortly share the patronage now so largely bestowed on beef extract, &c.” And again: "I find your extract of fish both by actual use and by chemical analysis in all respects equal to the best Liebig's extract of beef. Mr. Frederick Law Olmstead, of New York, wrote: "I have made a trial of your extract and find it more palatable than any beef extract I have used. It is not at all fishy, but I think it has a slight distinctive agreeable flavor which is also found in rich fish gravy. I am strongly disposed to regard it as a very important invention." The extract of fish has also been tested in hospitals in Portland, Me., and in New York City. Concerning the latter, Professor Johnson may again be quoted: "The fish extract was tried in this hospital. The physicians consider it in no way inferior to Liebig's. It was not suspected by nurses or patients to be anything else." Possible yield of "extract of fish." 193. Mr. Goodale estimates that the fish used by the factories in the towns of Bristol and Boothbay, Me., in 1873, 1874, and 1875, allowing the product to equal one-fifth of the weight of the live fish, would have yielded in either year upwards of a million of pounds, or five hundred tons of extract of fish. Carrying out the same calculation for the entire catch of the Atlantic States the potential yield of the menhaden fisheries would exceed ten millions of pounds. 37.-MENHADEN AS FOOD FOR ANIMALS. Menhuden scrap as food for cattle and poultry. 194. At a meeting of the "Maine Board of Agriculture and Farmer's Convention" at Wiscasset, Mr. Wasson gave an interesting account With regard to Professor Johnson's suggestion of possible difference in contents of iron, I cannot speak confidently, but my impression is that this element occurs mainly if not wholly in the blood corpuscles; that these are entangled in the albuminous constituent, as it coagulates in boiling and are removed in the serum which rises and is taken off, consequently that iron would not be found in appreciable quantity in extract made from either beef or fish.-S. L. GOODALE. Professor Johnson's later analyses seem to confirm the impression of Mr. Goodale. of the use of "porgy chum" as a food for sheep and poultry, stating that he had used it for five years. To prepare it for food it is prepared by drying it in the sun for two days on elevated racks, thus expelling a large portion of the water. When thus dried it will keep for an indefinitely long period. Mr. Wasson had kept a quantity in an open barrel in his barn for at least five years. One barrel, costing $2, was sufficient to feed three sheep during the entire winter. Sheep thus fed showed an average increase each of one pound and a quarter of wool, while they were constantly fat and brought heavy lambs. Hens also ate the scrap with avidity. Mr. Thomas Boyd of Boothbay, stated that hens, ducks, and turkeys prefer it to corn, and become large and heavy when fed upon it. It is customary to discontinue the scrap and feed them on corn three or four weeks previous to killing them. Professor Charles A. White inquired in regard to its effects upon the quality and flavor of the meat of animals fed with chum, stating that hogs. fed in the acorn or mast region of the west do not make such firm sweet pork as those fed on corn. None of the members present were able to answer this question. Mr. Luther Maddocks, of Boothbay, a leading manufacturer, stated that if a demand should occur for scrap to be used as animal food, it could be so pressed as to retain only 25 per cent. of water, and in that form it would be more suitable for transportation. Ordinarly it contains about 50 per cent. of water. Apparently this subject deserves careful investigation. In the Norwegian Department in Agricultural Hall at the International Exhibi tion of 1876 were exhibited some biscuits made from "fish-flour,” a preparation invented by the late Anton Rosing, a prominent agricul tural chemist of Norway. These biscuits were in good condition after having been kept for ten years in an unsealed jar. They were intended to be applicable to the uses of soldiers, miners, and farmers, to whom a supply of fish, other than salted, is beyond reach. The editor of the American Agriculturalist suggests that a similar process might be employed in utilizing the refuse of the oil manufactories as food for stock.* The proper preparation of this material for feed, either alone or mingled with bran, corn-meal, or other products of grain, would doubtless be a great economy, both for feeding and enriching the manure.t L. THE MENHADEN AS A BAIT FISH. 38. THE USE OF MENHADEN FOR BAIT. Menhaden as cod bait. 195. Menhaden bait is extensively used in the cod and mackerel fisheries in New England and the British Provinces. Its popularity is no doubt chiefly due to the ease with which it may be obtained in large * American Agriculturist, Vol. XXXV, 1876, p. 314. The value of menhaden as a food for animals is discussed more in detail by Professor Atwater in the succeeding part of this report. quantity, though its oily nature and strong odor render it particularly well adapted for use as a toll bait for mackerel. "Slivered pogies" are carried by the "bankers" or vessels fishing for cod on the Newfound. land and George's Banks from the ports of Gloucester and Provincetown.* According to Captain Atwood, salted menhaden are good bait for haddock but inferior for cod. On the Labrador coast the bait principally used is a small fish of the salmon family known as the capelin (Mallotus villosus) large quantities of which are easily procured in those waters for a short period iu the summer. The herring (Clupea elongata) is the most common bait in the Bay of Fundy cod-fisheries and it is also used by the English "bankers" to a considerable extent, as well as young mackerel. The English vessels also consume a large amount of "slivered pogies" which they buy from Massachusetts vessels. Fresh "slivers" are preferred to those which have been salted, and vessels bound to George's Banks usually carry their bait preserved on ice. Menhaden as mackerel bait. 196. As a toll bait for the mackerel fishery, the menhaden is better than any other fish. The mackerel seem to prefer it, and the pres ence of a great quantity of oil renders it especially convenient for the use of fishermen, since a small quantity of ground menhaden bait will spread over a large area of water. The introduction of the use of menhaden bait. 197. In early days it was the custom to grind up small mackerel for bait, much to the detriment of the fisheries in succeeding years. Cap tain Atwood remarked in his testimony before the Fishery Commission at Halifax: "We now use menhaden for bait; but when I first went fishing we did not do so. Our practice then was to grind up small mackerel for the purpose. Any quantity of these mackerel were at that time to be found along the coast and plenty of them are there to be met with now. These fish were of no account then, and so we ground them up for bait; and when we could not obtain them, we ground up for bait what you call gurry, the inwards of fish with the gills attached. American fishermen, when they fish with hooks, use menhaden bait almost exclusively. The superiority of this bait over all others is such that when this fish can get menhaden they won't take any other. At first mackerel fishermen were afraid of this bait. It is a very bony fish, and they then thought that if it was cut up for bait, the mackerel would soon get sick of it, owing to the number of bones. There is a species of fish belonging to this family found on our coast which is exceedingly fat. We call them blue-backed herrings; † and some preferred this fish for bait, as it was not so bony as the menhaden; but when the poorer * Vessels also carry for bait "sea-clams" (Mactra solidissima) salted, and the common long clam (Mya orenaria). The former are preferred by vessels fishing off Block Island and Nantucket to supply the New York market with fresh cod and haddock. They are sold at Nantucket at the rate of 30 cents a bushel The alewife, Pomolobus pseudoharengus. mackerel got to be worth having, about everybody adopted menhaden for bait. It is the cheapest bait."* The comparative value of herring and menhaden for toll bait 198. Mr. Sylvanus Smith stated before the Halifax Commission: "All the bait used in mackerel fishing consists of menbaden or porgy, which is only found off the coast of the United States, and which the Canadians bought from the American fishermen to a great extent"† Also to the same effect Mr. James G. Tarr: "The only bait used for mackerel is the porgy or menhaden, which is found entirely in the United States, and which all the Canadians have to buy from the Americans in a salted state. This fish (the porgy) is not found in Canadian waters, and is almost the only bait used in the mackerel fishery; if the Canadians were unable to procure this bait, they would be compelled to use herring bait, which is much inferior for the purpose. I have known vessels to sail from this port (Gloucester) with as many as 300 barrels of porgy bait on board, which was sold in Halifax and the Straits of Canso to Canadian fishermen. The bait which we buy from them for the cod-fishery consists of herring and some small mackerel." * John E. Saunders remarked: "Fresh herring is used by Canadianssomewhat, but it is an inferior sort of bait, and they much prefer menhaden when they can get it. Canadians import menhaden bait from the United States to some extent; the menbaden is not found north of Cape Sable." § Richard Hannan, of Gloucester, also stated: "I have sold menhaden bait to the Canadians, a few barrels each year; they import a great deal of this bait from the United States; now by the treaty they can come here and catch this bait themselves. To my own knowledge there have been two or three vessels here from Yarmouth and Argyle which came to catch porgies for use in the bay. || James G. McKeen, of Port Hastings, Nova Scotia, on the Strait of Canso, stated: "The bait chiefly used by American mackerel-fishing vessels is menhaden or porgies. These fish are taken, I believe, entirely on the coast of the United States, and mostly in seines within three miles of the land, so I have been informed. British mackerel fishermen use the same kind of bait principally, and depend on the United States for the supply. Clams are also used as bait for catching mackerel by both American and Colonial mackerel vessels, and they are obtained chiefly in the United States."¶ George Critchet, of Middle Milford, Guysboro County, Nova Scotia, N. E. Atwood. Proceedings of Halifax Commission, Appendix L, p. 42, September 19, 1877. Affidavit 34. Proceedings of the Halifax Commission, 1877, Appendix M, p. 81. |