HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN MENHADEN. 205 



Statements hi; Professor Cool:, of New Jersey. 



274. Prof. G. H. Cook, of New Jersey, iu bis report as secretary of 

 tbe State Board of Agriculture, writes:* 



''Tlie supply of material tor fish guauo is almost unlimited iu this 

 State, aud it only ueeds capital and t^kill to build up a business of great 

 importance to the State and proUt to the manufacturer. Ou tbe coasts 

 of Long Island aud 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 i)rices, from $15 to $c50 a ton, and has been a very popular 

 fertilizer with those who have used it. It is sought for by the niiinufac- 

 turers of superphosphate of lime, to mix with their product, and there 

 can be no doubt that it is very beneficial iu such a mixture, giving quick- 

 ness to its action, while the superphosphate woidd add to the duration 

 of efficiency. When this source of manure is [)roperly worked, it can be 

 made to supply all the guauo needed iu the State." 



Professor Cook says, also :t 



" While the most common mode of using these fish is iu the hill or 

 furrow for corn, they are often employed in a compost with barn-yard 

 manure and a little lime. Those who have tried such a mixture say that 

 it is superior to any guano in the marliet. When a[)plicd on corn the crop 

 is considered as certain. Some farmers mix them with muck and apply 

 the compost upon wheat. This fertilizer is wonderlully rapid iu 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 manun^. 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 iu testifying to its value." 



Further experience in Maine. — Messrs. KinMey, Kenniston, Smith, and 



Collins. 



275. Ou pages 47 to 55 of the report of Messrs. Boardman and Atkins, 

 referred to, are some '• Practical Notes en the Use of Fish Scrap as a Fer- 

 tilizer," which contain a number of items of experience of Maine farmers 

 worth quoting: 



'• Hon. J. T. Hinldey 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 one- 

 half acre of land, aud from that I have a good crop of gra s for four to 

 fi^'e 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 

 loatu, 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. 

 t Geology of New Jersey, 1868, j). 498. 



