'454 OF FISHj FISH REFUSE, AND OIL ; AND THE RELATIVE 



it in a recent state, or — which is more economical, — are made into a com- 

 post chiefly with earth, which after a time proves rich and fertiUzing. 



The bones of fish are similar in composition to those of terrestrial 

 animals (p. 447), and their muscular parts are nearly identical in ele- 

 mentary constitution with the lean part of beef and the clot of blood. 

 As fertilizing agents, therefore, the parts of fishes will act nearly in 

 the same way as the blood and bodies of animals. 



2°. Fish refuse. — The pilchards of Cornwall and the herrings, cod, 

 and ling of our northern coasts, when cleaned for salting, yield a 

 large quantity of refuse, (fourteen barrels of herrings yield one of 

 refuse,) which is peculiarly valuable to the farmers in the neighbor- 

 hood of the principal fishing stations. 



In the North, a compost prepared from this fish refuse, is generally 

 esteemed as a manure for barley and green crops, but when exten- 

 sively used, " is said to render the soil unfit for the production of oats.' 

 Such soil is said to be poisoned (Sinclair's Statistical Account of 

 Scotland, vii., p. 201, quoted in British Husbandry, I., p. 421.) 



3°. Wtiale blubber. — When the oil is expressed from whale blub- 

 ber, a skinny or membraneous refuse remains, which has hitherto 

 been employed only as a manure. It is made into a compost with 

 earth, which is several times turned, and the mixture is most usefully 

 employed after it has lain not less than 9 or 12 months. It may be 

 applied either to grass or to arable land. 



4°. Whale oil^ and that of other fish, when made into a compost with 

 earth and a little lime or wood ashes, yields a manure which was much 

 recommended by the late Dr. Hunter of York (see his Georgical Es- 

 says, vols. 1, 2, and 5.) Merely mixed with absorbent earth, and ap- 

 plied at the end of one month, impure whale oil, at the rate of 40 gallons 

 per acre, gave the late Mr. Mason, of Chilton, near Durham, a crop of 

 23i tons of turnips, while 40 bushels of bones gave him only 22 tons. 

 More recently, also, it has been found that the mixture of a few gallons 

 of oil with the usual quantity of bone-dust increased to a considerable 

 degree the turnip crop to which it was applied. In a theoretical point 

 of view, it would be interesting to establish me fact, that pure oil is 

 capable of promoting in a large degree the growth and produce of 

 our cultivated crops — though, as a resource, of which farmers in gene- 

 ral can avail themselves where other manure is scarce, its high price 

 will probably prevent it from ever becoming extensively useful. 



§ 8. Relative fertilizing value of the animal manures already 

 described. 



No sufficiently decisive experiments are yet upon record, from 

 which the relative value of the several animal manures above des- 

 cribed can be satisfactorily deduced. That they differ in fertihzing 

 power every farmer is aware, but it is not yet decided by actual trial, 

 in what proportion one Of them exceeds the other. 



I have already stated to you (p. 440) the theoretical opinion enter- 

 tained by many, that the efficacy of all manures is in proportion to the 

 quantity of nitrogen tJiey co?itain. Adopting this principle as true, it 

 IS easy to assign to each substance its proper place in an artificial table. 

 The last column :n the following table shows the quantity of each 



