The following table shows the aggregate statistics for the United States for a period of five years:

Table showing statistics of the manufacture of menhaden oil and guano in the United States in the years 1873, 1874, 1875, 1876, and 1877.

[Compiled from the Annual Reports of the United States Menhaden Oil and Guano Association.]

*The Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter for January 9, 1877, gives this as 1,708,166.

A comparison of the yield of the whale and other fisheries.

259. In 1875, the total amount of sperm oil from the American whale fisheries was 1,000,951 gallons; of other whale oil, 1,414,186 gallons; in all, 2,505,137 gallons. The amount of menhaden oil for the same year was 2,618,487 gallons, an excess of 176,350 gallons. In 1874, the amount of menhaden oil was 3,372,837 gallons, exceeding that of whale oil by 1,115.597 gallons.

In 1876, 2,990,000 gallons of menhaden oil were made, and in 1877, 2,426,000, For the year ending June 30, 1877, the production of whale oil was 2,140,047 gallons, and for the year 1877, 2,151,765 gallons.

In the "Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter" for January 14, 1874 (page 4), the following statement is made:

"It is asserted that while the amount of oil produced is equal to that derived from the whale fisheries in this country, the menhaden interest is ahead of the whale, for though the menhaden oil sells at a less price per gallon, for every barrel of oil made there is three-quarters of a ton of scrap, which readily commands $15 per ton at the factory."

This is not true. In 1874, for instance, the value of the sperm oil alone was $1,250,987; that of other oils from the whale fishery, $775,919. Total value of oils from the whales, $2,026,906; the value of the total products of the whale fishery, $2,291,896.

By way of further comparison, the cod and seal-oil fishery of New foundland and Labrador may be instanced. The latest figures at hand show the product of the seal oil fishery to be 1,500,000 gallons, and of the cod-oil fishery 900,000.

Comparison of yield of nitrogen from Guano Islands.

260. The refuse products of the oil-factories, together with the fish used in a crude state for manure, are estimated to have yielded in 1875 over 10,000,000 pounds of ammonia in the best possible organic forms. This quantity of ammonia is equivalent to at least 60,000,000 pounds of Chincha Island guano, formerly imported from Peru, the gold value of which would be not far from $1,920,000.

In addition to ammonia, the phosphate of lime derived from this source and convertible into agricultural products amounted to nearly 1,430,000 pounds, which is the equivalent of nearly 60,000,000 pounds of Peruvian guano.

Associations of oil and guano mauufacturers.

261. The Association of the Menhaden Oil and Guano Manufacturers of Maine was formed in the year 1870. The objects were such as are usually sought by organizations of the sort-harmony of action on points affecting the common welfare of the business, social acquaintance, and the communication of information as to improved processes, etc. The annual meeting is held the second Tuesday in January of each year. The United States Menhaden Oil and Guano Association was organized in 1873. The annual reports of these societies are given in full in Appendix L.

46. THE USES OF MENHADEN OIL AND THE OIL MARKET.

The uses of menhaden oil.

262. The uses of menhaden oil are manifold. It is chiefly employed as a substitute for the more costly and popular oils and to adulterate them. It is sold largely to tanneries for currying leather. After the hide has been "dressed," i. e., after its coarser fleshy parts have been pared off, the oil, mixed with tallow, is applied. This is technically called "stuffing," and results in qualifying any residue of alkali left from the "liming" process, and in filling the pores, and softening the leather. Mr. L. C. d'Homergue states that this oil is largely used in the tanneries of Russia.

A considerable quantity is used as a burning oil in coal-mines to fill the small lamps, one of which is fastened to the cap of each miner. It is then mixed with paraffine or some of the heavier oils. Some is also sold to be used in the manufacture of rope. A small quantity is used annually for lubricating purposes, but, on account of its gummy nature, it is not much in favor among machinists.* It is used in adulterating linseed oil, and is also sold as a substitute, its cheapness and durability *Mr. Isaac Bow, of Springfield, Mass., devoted several years to experimenting, with a view to the preparation of a good lubricating oil from menhaden oil, but his success was not satisfactory.

rendering it especially valuable for rough outside work and for painting ships. Mixed with other oils it is found to be very serviceable for the painting of interiors, and its use is attended with decided economy, its price being about one-half that of the best linseed oil. Some of the most pure is said to be put into the market as olive oil.

Most of that which is exported is used in the manufacture of soap and for smearing sheep after they have been sheared to keep off ticas. Mr. L. C. d'Homergue states in the Manufacturer and Builder that a bright fish oil, cut with some alcohol and mixed with paint, forms a far more lasting covering than linseed oil.

The "Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter" for October 21, 1874, implies that much of the whale oil now sold is really menhaden oil. "It is well known that the chief uses for menhaden oil is for currying leather, but with the low prices ruling of late and the scarcity of whale-oil it has found new channels, and very much of the whale-oil sold probably consists of two-thirds or more of menhaden, for it comes when crude nearly as handsome as any whale, and in appearance when bleached is quite equal. It is reported as a fact about the street that one concern alone sells more 'winter-bleached whale-oil' than is caught of crude, and they do not by any means get all the crude.”

The markets.

263. The principal market for menhaden oil is in Boston and New York; some is also sold in New Bedford, and considerable quantities are shipped to London, Liverpool, and Havre direct.

Grades of oil.

264. Several grades are recognized. The "Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter" usually quotes under the heads of "select light strained," "select light," "choice brown," and "inferior to dark," and "gurry."

The prices of oil.

265. The highest price ever obtained for menhaden oil was $1.40 a gallon-this was a war price. In Appendix K is given a table showing the current weekly prices of the different grades of oil in the New York market for a period of nearly seven years. This has been compiled from the "Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter," complete files of which I have been enabled to consult through the courtesy of the editor, Mr. W. O. Allison. This table includes all reliable information regarding the prices current of menhaden oil, and its value is enhanced by the addition of a weekly commentary upon the causes of fluctuation in price and the state of the market, also compiled from the "Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter." Since the interest in the causes of rise and fall of price is of merely commercial interest, it does not seem to be necessary in this place to discuss the subject in detail. See Appendix K.

Table showing highest and lowest prices of menhaden oil for the years 1871 to 1877.

266. in January, 1874, the manufacturers composing the "United States Menhaden Oil and Guano Association" had on hand 484,520 gallons of oil, or about 21 per cent. of the amount manufactured in 1873; in January, 1875, 648,000 gallons, or about 19 per cent.; in January, 1876, 125,000, or over 4 per cent.; in January, 1877, 264,000, or over 8 per cent.; and in January, 1878, 94,000, or over 4 per cent. These figures seem to indicate that the demand for oil quite keeps pace with the supply.

The following editorial on the value of menhaden oil appeared in the Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter, October 21, 1874:

"Prices for men haden oil have ruled very low this year, and it has probably been relatively the cheapest grease in market. This fact, together with a poor run of fish part of the season, caused several of the weakest of the manufacturers to close their works, and the natural result has been less than an average season's production, except in Maine. The Maine season ended some time since, and the fall catch of the other States, which is usually the best, has thus far been comparatively nothing, and as it will soon close cannot be improved much. To-day we should estimate the stock in the hands of fishermen as fully one quarter less than last year, and with one exception the dealers in this city are almost without stock.

"The entire failure of the Arctic whaling-fleet, the high price of all other grease, and the advance in the price of Newfoundland cod oil point to advanced prices for menhaden. We said early in the season. that menhaden oil was cheap at 40 cents, and it ought not to have gone below that price. At the present time some parties talk of 50 cents as the point the market will reach, but we hope that manufacturers will not hold for such high prices; this would be as much too high as 35 cents. was too low, and as soon as you get an article above its real value something takes its place and you cannot get it into the same channels until it becomes so low that it is forced back."