254 FISHES OF AUSTRALIA. 



the fishing-grounds, as to render the treatment of it very 

 profitable to all concerned.] 



Mention has been made of Fertilizer for agricultural 

 purposes, as a fish-product; and in view of the great possi- 

 bilities in this direction in Australia, it mav be well to go 

 into some slight detail. In older countries, in nearly all 

 cases where oil is extracted from refuse, the remaining 

 matter is dried and ground up and sold as Fertilizer. But 

 this is not restricted merely to the utilisation of refuse ; as, 

 in some cases, extensive fisheries exist in which the sole 

 object is to obtain fish for its commercial products other 

 than food. Where only one species of fish is dealt with, 

 perhaps the most important is the Menhaden fishery in the 

 United States of America, upon which thousands of men 

 are employed either directly or indirectly. The Menhaden 

 is a fish of the Herring family, which swarms in incalcul- 

 able numbers in the waters of North America. As a food 

 product it possesses but little value. However, many mil- 

 lions of them are used annually as bait, in the Cod-fishery. 

 But far more important is its use as a fertilizer and oil- 

 producer. For this purpose, about 800,000,000 of this 

 species are used annually in the United States. This 

 enormous total, weighing about 240,000 tons, turned to fer- 

 tilizer makes about 86,000 tons, which is worth at first hand 

 about 300,000. 



Many other species of fishes are also used in the pre- 

 paration of fertilizing products ; these including even cer- 

 tain well-known food-fishes, when they occur in such num- 

 bers as to render their sale for food purposes unprofitable. 

 Amongst the most important of these, may be mentioned the 

 before-mentioned Sharks and Rays (the latter including 

 many species of Sting- rays). 



No mention can be made here, of the many important 

 and interesting methods of extracting the oil, or of convert- 

 ing fish or fish-refuse into fertilizer. 



Before passing on, I may mention that the most primi- 

 tive form of utilising fishes as a fertilizer is to take them and 

 spread them out over farm land or else to simply dig them 

 in. These methods are practised in many countries at the 

 present day, not being unknown even in New South 



