48 



NEW ENGLAND FAR^MER. 



Jan. 



FISH GUANO. 



A correspondent asks us to give an "opin- 

 ion as to the feasibility of manufacturing a. fish 

 guano from the offal and decaying portion of 

 fish, which we as yet can find no use for." 



The turning of fish into manure has already 

 been done, and with excellent results, on va- 

 rious portions of our coast. As a special fer- 

 tilizer, it has become an important article of 

 commerce, and is found to be a profitable 

 au.xiliary in the production of various crops. 

 In some instances the entire fish, fresh from 

 the ocean, is used for carrying a crop of corn, 

 by depositing one or two in a hill, hauling a 

 little soil over them and dropping the seed 

 upon it. We are not aware that they are used 

 on the cereal grains, spread broadcast and 

 ploughed under, in this country. The fish 

 taken for the purposes of dressing the soil are 

 chiefly the menhaden, but the alewives and 

 some others are taken when coming upon the 

 coast in large numbers. One process of pre- 

 paring them is by pressure. This is done by 

 steam or other power, and it is so great as to 

 force out all the oil they contain, — which is 

 the first object in view, — and leave the mass 

 almost as dry as so much seasoned wood. It 

 is then ground in a mill, or in some way 

 broken, and is barrelled for market. Put up 

 in this manner it can be transported inland by 

 wagon or railroad, and we should think might 

 become an important article in the raising of 

 cotton. In the cotton districts, near the coast, 

 it would seem that this special fertilizer might 

 be made available to a very great extent, and 

 if so on cotton, on other crops. 



Fish are extensively and profitably used as 

 manure by the farmers on Long Island and in 

 many places in the New England States. On 

 Chesapeake Bay, in Maryland, the formers 

 collect large quantities of I'efuse, — the heads, 

 cleanings, &c., — and cart them many miles in- 

 land ; and so they do from the fisheries on the 

 Potomac, Delaware and other rivers. 



Another, and quite a rapid and ingenious 

 mode of converting fish into guano, is fre- 

 quently adopted by those living near the fish- 

 ing grounds. In the first place, an ample 

 ditch is dug in or near the field where the ma- 

 nure is to be used, and the soil thrown up 

 carefully in a ridge directly on its edges. The 

 proprietor then visits the fishing grounds, and 

 when the seine is hauled an estimate is made 



of the number of barrels of fish which it con- 

 tains, aud the whole purchased and thrown 

 into carts and conveyed to the ditch. When 

 the ditch is filled up to a level of the sur- 

 rounding ground, a sprinkling of fine earth is 

 scattered over the fish. If the weatherproves 

 warm for two or three successive days, a slight 

 motion may be noticed on the surface of the 

 mass, which shows that fermentation has taken 

 place on the upper layer of the fish. A little 

 more fine soil is then added, and the heap 

 watched with especial care. Fermentation 

 and decomposition now proceed very rapidly. 

 The mass, from an inert soon becomes a very 

 active one ; and the amount, in numbers, of 

 animal life, is perfectly astonishing. Their 

 name is legion upon le^on ! The whole bulk 

 is in motion. A moving mass of wriggling, 

 slimy worms, all seemingly intent to escape 

 from the pit in which they were generated, 

 are crowding the banks of the ditch and the 

 ridges of earth to. make their escape ! And 

 escape they would, were not help at hand. 

 This result has been anticipated, and workmen 

 have been summoned to the spot to prevent it 

 — which they do by throwing down the ridges 

 and burying the creatures where they were 

 born. Sometimes this is an exciting scene, — 

 for if the work is delayed a little too long, the 

 crawling gentry have escaped in such numbers 

 upon the ridges and the surrounding soil, as 

 to make the work anything but agreeable. 

 After this, the heap must be watched for a day 

 or two, as the lower strata occasionally push 

 through the superincumbent mass, and a new 

 exodus takes place. An additional covering 

 of soil retards their motions, and finally 

 presses upon them so heavily as to suffocate, 

 or in some other way destroy them. At the 

 end of a few days, the whole is thrown out, 

 more soil, muck or coal ashes mingled with it, 

 if thought necessary, and it is then ready for 

 use, and is applied in the hill, at a rate accord- 

 ing to its degree of strength. 



All preparations of fish are very rich ferti- 

 lizers ; even where the oil is extracted, as in 

 the process of pressing. When all parts are 

 preserved, the lleshy or muscular portions 

 abound in oil. The scales are composed of 

 coagulated albumen and phosphate of lime ; the 

 bones are full of oil, and the solid portion is 

 composed of phosphate of lime and carbonate 

 of lime in dllTerent proportions. The flesh 



