THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



285 



FISH MANURE. 



It i? strange how long- some subjects take before they 

 obtain firm hold upon the pul)Hc mind, or become 

 objects of practical utility and industrial api)lication. 

 Thus the utilization of the sewage-manure of towns, of 

 the sea-weeds, and the waste otfal and inedible fish of 

 our coasts, much as they have all been discussed for 

 many years past, have not yet become articles of com- 

 merce, so as to be available to any extent by the farmers 

 of the kingdom. 



Mr. Eraithwaite Poole, in his Statistics of British Com- 

 merce, tells us that there are annually used in the United 

 Kingdom 90,000,000 tons of farm-yard or animal ma- 

 nures, exclusive of guano, nitrate of soda, and other 

 artificial fertilizers. This sul»ject of fertilizers for our 

 soils involves a money value of ^'25,000,000 annually. 

 Anything, therefore, that would economize the labour 

 of transporting and spreading bulky farm-yard manure, 

 by giving us a more concentrated and portable fer- 

 tilizer for our soils, anything that will render us less 

 dependent upon the Peruvian Government for guano, 

 would be hailed as a national boon. If but half the 

 energy, a tithe of the capital, and a small share of the 

 experimental research and skill applied to many 

 engineering and mechanical undertakings, had been 

 directed to these important desiderata, we should long 

 ere this have been reaping the benefit of a home manu- 

 facture calculated to renovate and invigorate our soils, 

 and add largely to the productive resources of the 

 kingdom. 



For several years past, project after project has been 

 started, to extend the use of fish-manure j but one after 

 another has broken down, from some cause or other. 

 Three years ago Professor Way, in a lecture before the 

 Royal Agricultural Society, called special attention to 

 the use of fish as a manure, and contributed much 

 valuable information on this important subject. He 

 described the various methods that had been proposed, 

 or were being carried out, for drying and preserving 

 the fish ; such as those of Mr. Pettitt by sulphuric acid, 

 of Mr. Elliott by the use of alkali, of Mr. Bethell by 

 the employment of tar oils, of Messrs. de Molon and 

 Thurnysen by treatment with high-pressure steam, of 

 Mr. Stevens (the contractor for refuse fish at Billings- 

 gate) who incorporates the fish in superphosphate of 

 lime, &c. 



The West of England Fisheries and Fish Manure 

 Company (Galway) recently wound up after a few 

 months' trial, and wasting a large amount of capital. 

 The Lowestoft French experiment seems to have been 

 placed in the hands of persons possessed of little or no 

 practical commercial knowledge. Mr. Pettitt's patent 

 seems to have failed mainly from the indolence of the 

 Irish fishermen, where the chief experiments wei'e 

 made, and the expense of sulphuric acid required for 

 the reduction of the fish. 



A new association, the North Sea Fisheries Company, 



is now establishing itself at Lynn; and another experi- 

 mentalist on the manufacture of fish -manure, Mr. 

 Samuel Osier, of Yarmoutli, has also entered the field 

 of production. Mr. Osier evidently brings to the sub- 

 ject a large amount of local experience, extensive con- 

 nections, sound judgment and practical knowledge, 

 which we trust may result in benefit to himself as well 

 as to the agricultural community. He proposes 

 entering largely into the manufacture ol' fish-guano, 

 and relies chiefly for the raw material upon the sup- 

 plies of waste fish and oftal always to be obtained. 

 Thus he says : 



"The waste and refuse of a great fiabiug port will supply 

 the materials cheaply and without risk or outlay, and as it will 

 be a great additional gala to a fishing adventure to obtain a 

 certain and constant demand for all thia waste iind otherwise 

 unsaleable fish, the establishment of manufactories of fish- 

 manure win lead to new fisheries where, without such aid, they 

 could not prudently be commenced. Yarmouth, the chief 

 fishing-station in England, with the adjoining coast from 

 Lowestoft to Aldborough, offers every advantaije for such a 

 manufacture. It employs near 400 boats, from 25 to 60 tons 

 each. They ordinarily afford from 2,000 to 3,000 tons of 

 broken fish and salt, selling at about £1 23. per ton; besides 

 the waste of 4C0 smoking-houses, sold aa refuse ; and from 

 500 to 700 tons of herring-scales, a substance containing a 

 very large proportion of phosphates, and obtainable for£l 10s, 

 per ton. This is independent of the waste frera occasional 

 gluts of dog-fish and others, useless for food, of which no ac- 

 count is taken, yet which are caught in very large quantity, 

 and of which an unlimited supply might be obtained, if the 

 fishers could obtain a sale. Last year, so great was the glut 

 of herrings at Lowestoft that, at one time, tiiey were carted by 

 the farmers at 43. 6d. per ton. An ample, cheap, and con- 

 tinuous supply would therefore be secured from the first, by 

 simply taking from the fishermen what they will only be too 

 thankful to sell ; and the manufacture, which would be in 

 every sense of the word a national benefit, may he carried on 

 with no risk, small outlay, and large profit." 



We need not dilate upon the relative value of fish- 

 manure as an application to the soil, because this sub- 

 ject has already been well ventilated, and is perfectly 

 understood by the farmers generally. The extensive 

 and increasing use of Peruvian guano, even at its high 

 ruling price, is an evidence of this. According to Pro- 

 fessor Johnston, ten tons of fish, as far as nitrogen is 

 concerned, are equal to sixty-six tons of farm-yard 

 manure. Fish-manure aflTorded by dried fish will give 

 16 per cent, of nitrogen, if the ammonia is fixed ; in 

 blood 12 per cent., guano 14 per cent., farm-yard 

 manure and marine plants about 2 per cent. 



We have had analyzed different samples of Mr. Os- 

 ier's patent fish manure sent to us, and find that it con- 

 tains from 8 to 12 per cent, of ammonia; the difibrence 

 arising from manufacturing fully or partially-salted 

 inedible fish ; the higher per-centage being yielded 

 without alknl'Tie salts. The manure is prepared iu a 

 single day, without hydraulic pressure or grinding. 

 The product from salted fish is stated to be about four- 

 tuiths of the bulk o- weight, and from fresh fish about 

 three-tenths; consequently the cost of the manufac- 

 tured article may be readily determined by the rate at 



