198 FISH CULTUEE. 



Orkney men to catch lobsters. A net bag, the month 

 of which is kept open round a large iron ring, a 

 weight and some bait being secured in the centre of 

 the bag, is let down to the bottom of the sea, when 

 the fish, attracted by the bait, enter within the cir- 

 cumference of the ring, and if hauled quickly up 

 the fish will be in the bag net, and can then be put 

 into the wells without being blown or handled at all. 

 " One of the uninhabited Orkney Islands would 

 decidedly be the best adapted for the manure manu- 

 factory and depot, to which all the offal should be 

 carried, as the effluvia would annoy no person. There 

 are harbour dues here, and it is midway between the 

 fishing-ground and the east coasts of Scotland and 

 England ; and, above all, any quantity of vegetable 

 matter can be procured for mixing with the fish offal ; 

 and a large shed would have to be erected, and a kiln, 

 for drying and driving out the superfluous water 

 from the materials, built, and a mill put up for bruis- 

 ing and mixing them when dried and ready for 

 market. Thousands of tons of far richer guano can 

 be made by this means in one year, on the same prin- 

 ciple and with the same materials as the climate of 

 Peru has taken hundreds of years to produce. This 

 would be a boon to agriculture, and give a large 

 dividend to the shareholders. An American gentle- 



