264 KEPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



oatmeal, and during the third Norwegian fish guano was added to the 

 ration of the second period. At first the animals did not like the fish, but 

 on mixing it well with the oatmeal they accepted it more readily. At 

 the close of the experiment they had got to liking the guano so much as 

 to eat it greedily with no admixture of other foods. They digested on 

 average of two experiments 90 per cent, of the albuminoids and 76 per 

 cent, of the fat of the guano. Concerning the nitrogenous matter of the 

 bone, Kellner made the same observation as has been previously noted, 

 namely, that it was quite rapidly digestible. It is particularly worthy 

 of remark that the Norwegian fish guano which was used in this experi- 

 ment had 9.44 per cent, nitrogen and no less than 15.77 per cent, phos- 

 phoric acid, and only 2.11 per cent. fat. That is, it had more bone than 

 our fish guano. This is because it is made not of the whole fish, but of 

 the refuse heads, entrails, and bones. The most of the fat had been 

 removed by the steaming process used in preparation of the guano. 



General conclusions concerning fish as food for domestic animals. 



325. On the whole, then, these experiments bear unanimous and con- 

 vincing testimony in favor of the easy digestibility and high nutritive 

 value of animal foods in general and of fish guano in particular when fed 

 to sheep and swine. 



How far they could be made profitable for other herbivorous animals 

 than sheep has not yet been tested. In the nature of the case there is 

 no reason why they should not be as nutritious for neat cattle as for 

 sheep. As Voit has justly observed, all mammals are at one period of 

 their lives, when living upon milk, carnivorous. Late investigations have 

 shown very clearly that even plants are positively nourished by animal 

 foods. The very interesting experiments of Mr. Francis Darwin with 

 the round-leaved sundew demonstrate conclusively that plants may 

 thrive on a meat diet. 



In short, we have every reason, from practical experience, from actual 

 experiment, and from what we know of the nature of the case, to believe 

 that the immense amount of animal waste produced in this country from 

 our slaughter-houses, and especially from our fisheries, can be utilized 

 •with the greatest ease and profit to supply the most pressing need of a 

 most important part of our agriculture, nitrogenous food for stock. 



We have seen that farmers in New England and in Europe have 

 found fish good for their stock, that occasionally one like Mr. Wilder 

 has hit upon a rational way of using it to piece out and improve the 

 poorer products of their farms, and that patient research has explained 

 why it is useful and how it may be made more so. This is one of the 

 countless cases where practical men have worked their way in the dark 

 by the tortuous path of experience to the same results to which scientific 

 investigation leads. But here as ever the results when found need the 

 light of science to explain the facts and make it possible to apply them 

 most profitably. 



