206 KEPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



into which a good many farmers are led by statements that the appli- 

 cation of fish-scrap, or other active special manures, like guano or 

 superphosphate, damaged the land, rendering it unproductive and ster- 

 ile; it may be stated here that the real cause of this sterility does not 

 come from the application of these so-called forcing manures which are 

 applied to the land, but from the taking off of the large crops which 

 follow their application. They exhaust the soil by drawing from it ele- 

 ments which the manure put on does not contain, and which repeated 

 applications of the same fertilizer would not supply ; it is in fact the- 

 crop taken off, not the manure put on, which injures the land. But it 

 must also be remembered that after land has been brought up to a con- 

 dition of productive capacity by the use of fish-scrap or special fertili- 

 zers, it can be kept so only by the application of stable and barn-yard 

 manure, or the manure made by consuming the hay grown upon the 

 soil thus improved. This should invariably and in all cases be given 

 back to the land, or the time will speedily come when it will refuse to 

 'discount.'" 



" Mr. William Kenniston, of North Boothbay, furnishes some interest- 

 ing statements regarding the use of scraji upon his farm. He has used it 

 more or less for the past eight or ten jears, and says he 'could not farm 

 without it.' He hauls it from the factory generally late in the fall, as it is 

 dryer then and less objectionable to handle, and composts it with yard 

 and stable manure, muck, and loam. When one year old this is hauled out 

 and spread, in the fall or winter, wherever it is most convenient to do so^ 

 at the rate of about eight cart-loads to the acre. In using the scrap with- 

 out being composted, as he has sometimes done, he regards one ton of well- 

 dried scrap better than three just as it comes from the press. The dry 

 scrap is much easier and better to handle, and may be used on grass at the 

 rate of three tons to the acre ; but the raw scrap from the press should 

 invariably be composted. In 18G7 he used five tons of scrap mostly in 

 a green state. It killed the corn, the grain lodged and was damaged, 

 and grass has lodged on the piece ever since, although no manure has 

 been applied since. Ho had spread it on grass fields both in the spring 

 and fall, but preferred the latter. Mr. Kenniston believes if the scrap 

 was packed in barrels just as it came from the press it would stand 

 trans[)ortation by steamer or rail to almost any part of the interior of 

 Maine without becoming offensive. 



" The farmers in Machias purchase herring chum from Lubec, whence 

 it is brought in small schooners. It is usually packed in barrels of from 

 1^20 to 280 pounds each, at $11.50 per ton, but is not used in very large 

 quantity. Lobster chum, from the canning factories at Englishman's 

 River, is also made use of to some extent as a top-dressing. It is ob- 

 tained in scows and boats at about 84.50 per ton, delivered in Machias 

 and vicinity. One ton of it is composted with ten loads of common loam,, 

 and this amount spread upon an acre. Applied to grass land in the 

 fall, the results are most satisfactory." 



