208 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



no ill effects, although if used in too great quantities the grain will grow 

 rank and lodge. I can hardly yet tell what it will do in a long run, but 

 am satisfied with it after a five years' trial.' " 



Other testimony. 



276. "Numerous testimonials similar to the above could be given 

 from correspondents and from agricultural reports aud journals, but 

 enough has been stated * * to show the great value of fish scrap 

 as a fertilizer when composted or judiciously api)lied in connection with 

 animal manure. Remark : Too much stress can hardly be put upon this 

 qualification in regard to its use. An instance is mentioned in a former 

 volume of this report* of a farmer who first began to use the scrap; 

 composted it in the fall with three times its quantity of earth. The next 

 spring the mixture had so much the appearance of common earth, and 

 the party had so little faith in its efficacy, that a shovelful to the hill 

 was applied for corn. It came up well, grew for a time looking green 

 and thrifty, but soon began to grow pale, finally died, and the crop was 

 a failure. But the effect of this application was noticeable for many 

 years afterwards, and even with no other application of manures of any 

 kind the land continued to bear an immense burden of grass. In the 

 discussion to which reference has been made, before the Connecticut 

 Board of Agriculture, Mr. Fowler, of Guilford, gave a word of caution 

 which he thought should be exercised in the application of fish scrap. 

 He said : ' My experience has satisfied me it will not answer to use fish 

 alone as a fertilizer for a term of years. It forces the crop and finally 

 leaves the land in very bad condition, very hard and sterile, and it will 

 usually show a pretty heavy crop of sorrel after harvest. But if it is 

 used as it should be invariably, in connection with stable or barn-yard 

 manure, it is perfectly safe to use every year for a term of years for any 

 crop.' " 



49. The manufacture of fish manures. 



Early attempt at manufacture. 



277. The first attempt to manufacture a portable manure from fish is 

 said to have been made by Mr. Lewis, at Kew Haven, Conn., in 1849.t 

 The white fish, or menhaden {Brevoortia iyrannus)^ was employed, and 

 after a good deal of experimenting a manure produced which contained, 

 according to analyses by Professor Norton, as high as 10.23 percent, of 

 nitrogen. The enterprise was, however, for some cause, discontinued. 



Tlie Be Molon process. 



278. The next effort in this direction seems to have been in 1851 or 

 1852, by De Molon, a Frenchman, who, in company with other parties, is 



* Hon. S. L. Goodale, Agriculture and Geology of Maine, 1861, page 49. 



+ See communication by Prof. S. W. Johnson to the Country Gentleman, July 1857, 

 and article on Marine Manures, by S. L. Goodale, Agriculture and Geology of Maine, 

 1861, pp. 50-56. 



