means the article spread upon a platform, and made as dry as it can be in that way. What is termed 'dried fish' is another thing. It will take from two to two and a half tons of fresh fish to make a ton of dry, and after that has lain in a tight building for some time, it will take two tons of that to make a ton of the dry guano. When the green manure is spread out and immediately dried in the sun, there is no loss of ammonia, but when it is kept in a pile, of course putrefaction begins, and as it advances there is loss of ammonia. There is no considerable loss of ammonia by drying in the sun and of course the dry manure, finely ground, is very much more valuable than that which is dried in a heap where there is a great loss of ammonia."

Mr. Loveland said of his experience with fish-scrap :

"I would say that I have had considerable experience with fish-scrap, having used it for the last eight or ten years. I bought it as it is prepared by the companies at Milford, where it is produced as a superphos phate, and sold at the rate of $45 a ton. I have used it with Bradley's superphosphate, with Coe's and with Wilson's on tobacco and other crops, and wherever I have used it in connection with these high-priced manures, I have found that the fish manure was fully equal to them; it bore up its crop as well as any of the commercial fertilizers in the market. I have bought it in the green state mostly, in bags and barrels, and it has cost me about $23 a ton to get it up to the north part of the State. I have not used this fish-scrap much by spreading it upon lands in its raw state, nor by putting it into the hill, as they do in Lyme, and on the coast, in raising potatoes and the like. I have seen some instances in our town where it has been spread upon the ground in a raw state, and then the tobacco set, and the effect has been to stop the growth of the tobacco. It has been too powerful in that condition for the tobacco to grow upon it; and where it has been used in that way, I have never seen half a crop of tobacco. My method has been to compost it, invariably, and I be lieve that is the true method of using such a fertilizer as that. It is a fertilizer having all the elements of an organized body. It contains all of the fish that we desire; the oil that has been taken out we hold to be of no use in agriculture. Coming to us in the green state from the factory, it has not lost any of its ammonia to speak of, and in that state it must be a perfect manure, because there is no adulteration in it. In composting it, I have used muck, treated with lime and salt-about four cart-loads of muck to four or five hundred pounds of the fish, building up a large pile of it, in that proportion, which, after a while, begins to heat, and the whole mass is leavened and brought into oneness of condition. The fish-scrap fertilizes the whole mass with its elements, and it may then be spread upon natural grass-land or cultivated ground, and will invariably produce a very fine crop. It never has failed with me to produce a good crop, and where I have manured grounds in that way and seeded them down, I have got good crops of grass for years in suc cession afterwards."

Statements by Professor Cook, of New Jersey.

274. Prof. G. H. Cook, of New Jersey, in his report as secretary of the State Board of Agriculture, writes:*

"The supply of material for fish guano is almost unlimited in this State, and it only needs capital and skill to build up a business of great importance to the State and profit to the manufacturer. On the coasts of Long Island and of Maine, where the business has been carried on for the oil which could be got from the fish, the residuum has been sold at various prices, from $15 to $30 a ton, and has been a very popular fertilizer with those who have used it. It is sought for by the manufac turers of superphosphate of lime, to mix with their product, and there can be no doubt that it is very beneficial in such a mixture, giving quickness to its action, while the superphosphate would add to the duration of efficiency. When this source of manure is properly worked, it can be made to supply all the guano needed in the State."

Professor Cook says, also :†

"While the most common mode of using these fish is in the hill or furrow for corn, they are often employed in a compost with barn-yard mauure and a little lime. Those who have tried such a mixture say that it is superior to any guano in the market. When applied on corn the crop is considered as certain. Some farmers mix them with muck and apply the compost upon wheat. This fertilizer is wonderfully rapid in its ef fects, showing changes in the growth of a crop in a few days after it has been applied. But it is not a lasting manure. In a year or two this stimulating effect is gone, and a second application is necessary. For producing quick results it is so efficient that all farmers who have tried it unite in testifying to its value."

Further experience in Maine.-Messrs. Hinkley, Kenniston, Smith, and

Collins.

275. On pages 47 to 55 of the report of Messrs. Boardman and Atkins, referred to, are some "Practical Notes on the Use of Fish Scrap as a Fertilizer," which contain a number of items of experience of Maine farmers worth quoting:

"Hon. J. T. Hinkley of Bluehill, in a private letter, writes: 'I have never used but it in one way. I mix it with fine dirt or sand, and use it as a top dressing on grass-land. A dressing of one ton of chum mixed with five times that amount of dirt is about the quantity I would put on onehalf acre of land, and from that I have a good crop of grass for four to five years without injury to the land. *There is an objection here to dressing too heavily with scrap, as it injures the quality of the hay; but using it at the rate of one ton to the acre, in a compost of three parts loam, will produce no effects of this nature.' Now to correct the error

*First Annual Report of the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture, 1874, page 44. Geology of New Jersey, 1868, p. 498.

into which a good many farmers are led by statements that the application of fish-scrap, or other active special manures, like guano or superphosphate, damaged the land, rendering it unproductive and sterile; it may be stated here that the real cause of this sterility does not come from the application of these so-called forcing manures which are applied to the land, but from the taking off of the large crops which follow their application. They exhaust the soil by drawing from it ele ments which the manure put on does not contain, and which repeated applications of the same fertilizer would not supply; it is in fact the crop taken off, not the manure put on, which injures the land. But it must also be remembered that after land has been brought up to a condition of productive capacity by the use of fish-scrap or special fertili zers, it can be kept so only by the application of stable and barn-yard manure, or the manure made by consuming the hay grown upon the soil thus improved. This should invariably and in all cases be given back to the land, or the time will speedily come when it will refuse to 'discount.'"

"Mr. William Kenniston, of North Boothbay, furnishes some interesting statements regarding the use of scrap upon his farm. He has used it more or less for the past eight or ten years, and says he 'could not farm without it.' He hauls it from the factory generally late in the fall, as it is dryer then and less objectionable to handle, and composts it with yard and stable manure, muck, and loam. When one year old this is hauled out and spread, in the fall or winter, wherever it is most convenient to do so, at the rate of about eight cart-loads to the acre. In using the scrap with out being composted, as he has sometimes done, he regards one ton of welldried scrap better than three just as it comes from the press. The dry scrap is much easier and better to handle, and may be used on grass at the rate of three tons to the acre; but the raw scrap from the press should invariably be composted. In 1867 he used five tons of scrap mostly in a green state. It killed the corn, the grain lodged and was damaged, and grass has lodged on the piece ever since, although no manure has been applied since. He had spread it on grass fields both in the spring and fall, but preferred the latter. Mr. Kenniston believes if the scrap was packed in barrels just as it came from the press it would stand transportation by steamer or rail to almost any part of the interior of Maine without becoming offensive.

"The farmers in Machias purchase herring chum from Lubec, whence it is brought in small schooners. It is usually packed in barrels of from 220 to 280 pounds each, at $11.50 per ton, but is not used in very large quantity. Lobster chum, from the canning factories at Englishman's River, is also made use of to some extent as a top dressing. It is ob tained in scows and boats at about $4.50 per ton, delivered in Machias and vicinity. One ton of it is composted with ten loads of common loam, and this amount spread upon an acre. Applied to grass land in the fall, the results are most satisfactory."

"Mr. H. T. Smith, of Machias, has perhaps made a larger use of fishscrap, as a fertilizer, in different ways, than any farmer in that place or vicinity. His usual practice is to obtain the scrap (generally herring scrap) in the fall, and apply it in the spring. When grass land is in fair condition he uses about one-fourth of a ton per acre, and never more than one and one-fourth ton per acre. It is, of course, less expensive to apply it directly to the land as it comes from the press, but it is often composted, using three parts of earth to one of scrap. For grain, Mr. Smith has plowed under seven hundred pounds to the acre, from which he has grown very heavy crops of barley, oats, and wheat. Mr. Smith says: I have paid $80 per ton for superphosphate, and if given my choice had rather have one ton of fish scrap than one ton of superphosphate. If barrelled as soon as it comes from the press (he is speak ing of herring scrap, which, it will be remembered, is treated with salt before being pressed), it has no unpleasant odor, and is not offensive to handle. There is nothing equal to it for the land. It is as valuable as night-soil, and is good for grass, grains, corn, garden crops, anything that grows out of the earth.""

"Capt. Jason Collins, of the steamer 'Star of the East,' thus relates, in a private letter, his experience in the use of fish scrap as a fertilizer: 'My experience in the use of fish chum does not reach over many years, but I have applied it to barley and on grass. The amount used per acre for barley was 1,500 pounds, which was mixed with two parts loam to one of chum. This was spread on and harrowed in. In the fall of 1873, I had five acres plowed up, on which I put 2,000 pounds to the acre. It was harrowed and rolled in the fall, and the following spring, about the last of March, I think, it was sown to grass-seed alone. The grass was cut the last of August, and it was very heavy. I have also used it for turnips and potatoes, and it has done well for each crop. In the fall of 1873 I also had chum spread on some six acres of grass land, as a top dressing, at the rate of three-fourths of a ton per acre, mixed with loam in the same proportions as that used for barley. It did first-rate. This fall (1874) I shall use more, which I shall compost and lay over until another fall, as in that form it will be better about handling. From all I can learn, and from my own experience, I am satisfied that late fall is the best time of the year to apply it as a top-dressing for grass lands; and the amount should be from three-fourths of a ton to a ton per acre. It is best if used as a compost, as I have stated. For hoed crops it must be used very carefully, and should in all cases be thoroughly composted. In regard to its price, it cost me $12 per ton green, in bulk, and have had it brought from Boothbay to Gardiner in lighters. When in barrels it costs $15 per ton, but it is cheap at that price, and I shall buy no other fertilizer until I find something better for less money. At $12 per ton it is cheaper than it is to haul stable-manure, even if the manure is given to you. Perhaps I have not used it long enough to speak of its effects upon the land, but during my experience with it I have witnessed

no ill effects, although if used in too great quantities the grain will grow rank and lodge. I can hardly yet tell what it will do in a long run, but am satisfied with it after a five years' trial."

Other testimony.

276. "Numerous testimonials similar to the above could be given from correspondents and from agricultural reports and journals, but enough has been stated to show the great value of fish scrap as a fertilizer when composted or judiciously applied in connection with animal manure. Remark: Too much stress can hardly be put upon this qualification in regard to its use. An instance is mentioned in a former volume of this report* of a farmer who first began to use the scrap; composted it in the fall with three times its quantity of earth. The next spring the mixture had so much the appearance of common earth, and the party had so little faith in its efficacy, that a shovelful to the hill was applied for corn. It came up well, grew for a time looking green and thrifty, but soon began to grow pale, finally died, and the crop was a failure. But the effect of this application was noticeable for many years afterwards, and even with no other application of manures of any kind the land continued to bear an immense burden of grass. In the discussion to which reference has been made, before the Connecticut Board of Agriculture, Mr. Fowler, of Guilford, gave a word of caution which he thought should be exercised in the application of fish scrap. He said: 'My experience has satisfied me it will not answer to use fish alone as a fertilizer for a term of years. It forces the crop and finally leaves the land in very bad condition, very hard and sterile, and it will usually show a pretty heavy crop of sorrel after harvest. But if it is used as it should be invariably, in connection with stable or barn-yard manure, it is perfectly safe to use every year for a term of years for any crop.'"

49. THE MANUFACTURE OF FISH MANURES.

Early attempt at manufacture.

277. The first attempt to manufacture a portable manure from fish is said to have been made by Mr. Lewis, at New Haven, Conn., in 1849.† The white fish, or menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus), was employed, and after a good deal of experimenting a manure produced which contained, according to analyses by Professor Norton, as high as 10.23 per cent. of nitrogen. The enterprise was, however, for some cause, discontinued.

The De Molon process.

278. The next effort in this direction seems to have been in 1851 or 1852, by De Molon, a Frenchman, who, in company with other parties, is

* Hon. S. L. Goodale, Agriculture and Geology of Maine, 1861, page 49. +See communication by Prof. S. W. Johnson to the Country Gentleman, July 1857, and article on Marine Manures, by S. L. Goodale, Agriculture and Geology of Maine, 1861, pp. 50-56.