18 



value of the superphosphate as a manure is but little 

 known in this country. Small quantities of it are 

 however now manufactured at Montreal from bones, 

 and the farmers of the country are beginning to 

 learn its importance. It is to be hoped that more 

 enlightened notions of agriculture will soon so much 

 increase the demand for this article as to warrant 

 the establishment of a sulphuric-acid manufactory, 

 .and the conversion into superphosphate for domestic 

 use of a large portion of the mineral phosphates to 

 be obtained in the province. Us employment will 

 be one of the most efficient means of restoring 

 the apparently exhausted wheat lands of Lower 

 Canada. 



FISH MANURE. 



A most important and hitherto neglected source of 

 valuable manure is to be found in the great fisheries 

 of the Gulf of St.-Lawrence. The use of fish for a 

 manure is known in many parts of the world, and 

 there are small and inferior kinds of fish which on 

 the coast of the United States are taken in great 

 quantities expressly for the purpose, and either ap- 

 plied directly to the fields, or converted into a con- 

 centrated manure nearly equal in value to Peruvian 

 guano. For this purpose they are cooked by steam, 

 pressed to remove the water, and in the case of some 

 kinds of fish, a large quantity of valuable oil, and 

 finally dried and ground to powder. 



According to Payen,an emriont French authority, 

 the total yearly produca of l!i : c xl fisheries on the 

 IS orth American coa>L is mi', ^ t!ri;i 1,500,000 tons 

 of fresh fish. Of this, lh:3 h i ul ui trails, equal to 

 one half the entire .v ;'i L/) decay, or are 



thrown into tlu sna , ; i lid yuMd more 



