656 



HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



a pouud each. To save all the gases which will escape from them iu the course of their decay, 

 not lessthau five times their weight of muck, sods, loam, or o*her absorbent material should be 

 used ; and a much larger quantity would not be injurious. 



" The abundance of these crabs has suggested the plan of grinding them for use as a concen- 

 trated manure, and Messrs. Ingham & Beesley have erected a mill at Goshen for this purpose. 

 They dry the crabs and grind them as fine as possible. Thus prepared, they are put up in bags and 

 sold under the name of cancerine. Its price is $25 a ton at the works, and from 150 to 250 tons are 

 made by them yearly. Another factory, at West Creek, makes an equal amount. It is applied 

 on wheat, at the rate of 800 pounds per acre, and is fully equal to half its weight of guano, which 

 would cost $18. The whole supply of it is not equal to the demand. 



ANALYSIS OF CANCERISE. 



Water 



Organic matter . 

 Lime... 



9.&J1 



70.667 



4.358 



Phosphoric acid 2. 714 



Sulphuric acid 5.170 



Alkaline salts 3.687 



Sand 3.883 



Total 



Ammonia 10.75 per cent. 



100. 000 



" The specimen analyzed was sent to me by Mr. Ingham. It appears to be pure crab. The 

 ammonia was determined by an ultimate analysis. It does not exist in the cancerine ready formed, 

 but the nitrogen from which ammonia is generated is in it ; and, in accordance with the common 

 practice of chemists, the amount of ammonia which the nitrogen will produce is calculated. 



"Another specimen of the crab shells, unmixed with other matter, and only dried in the air, 

 gave 10.78 per cent, of ammonia. Two other specimens of the cancerine gave 9.22 and 9.77 per 

 cent, of ammonia. The phosphoric acid of the last two was 3.87 and 4.24 per cent. 



"The establishment of this manufacture has been the subject of much interest. The increas- 

 ing use of concentrated manures, the continued reports of their early exhaustion, and their enhanced 

 price have drawn the attention of the public to other sources of supply, and every honest attempt 

 to meet this want should meet with public encouragement. The agricultural value of the cancer- 

 ine and its price compared with the Peruvian guano may be estimated. The following table gives 

 the highest, lowest, and the average composition of thirty-two well authenticated specimens of 

 Peruvian guano. It is copied from Morton's Cyclopedia of Agriculture : 



" Professor Way. an eminent agricultural chemist in England, and some in our own country, 

 have computed the value of guano from the amount of ammonia and phosphates or phosphoric 

 acid it contains, considering the other ingredients as of little comparative value. The phosphates 

 are allowed by them to be worth about one-eighth and phosphoric acid one fourth as much as 

 ammonia. Taking these valuations as the basis of calculation, the ammonia and oue eighth of 



