192 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



rendering it especially valuable for roiigli 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 Zceep off ticds. 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 Eeporter " 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 marlcets. 



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 Loudon, Liverpool, and Havre direct. 



Grades of oil. 



264. Several grades are recognized. The " Oil, Paint, and Drug Ee- 

 porter" 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 cur- 

 rent 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 Eeporter." Since 

 the interest in the causes of rise and fall of price is of merely commer- 

 cial interest, it does not seem to be necessary in this place to discuss the 

 subject in detail. See Appendix K. 



