CHAP, xviri. FISH MANURES. 309 



versed on the subject is the waiit of capital to enter into 

 that branch of industry, coupled with the doubts which 

 they entertain of finding a market for the manufactured 

 manures. The subject of fish manures has engaged the 

 attention of Dr. Sterry Hunt, the able chemist and 

 mineralogist of the Geological Survey of Canada. 



The importance of manures to the agriculturist of 

 Britain will be a sufficient apology for introducing some 

 facts relating to their production in the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence.* 



' The use of fish as a manure has long been known. On 

 the shores of Scotland, Cornwall, Brittany, some parts of 

 the United States, and on our own sea coasts, the offal from 

 fisheries, as well as certain bony fishes of little value for 

 food, are applied to the soil with great benefit. The idea 

 of converting these materials into a portable manure was, 

 however, I believe, first carried into effect in France by 

 M. Dernolon, who, seven or eight years since, erected 

 establishments for this object on the coast of Brittany and 

 in Newfoundland. For the details of this manufacture I 

 am indebted to the ' Chimie Industrielle ' of Pay en. Con- 

 carneau, in the department of Finisterre, is a small town 

 whose inhabitants are employed in fishing for sardines, 

 and it is the refuse of this fishery which is employed in 

 the manufacture of manure. The offal is placed hi large 

 coppers and heated by steam until thoroughly cooked, 

 after which it is submitted to pressure, which extracts the 

 water and oil. The pressed mass is then rasped, dried in 

 a current of hot air, and ground to powder. One hundred 



* Geological Survey of Canada Eeport of Progress for the year 1857. 



