﻿FT8H-SCRAP FERTILIZER INDUSTRY OP ATLANTIC COAST. 15 



per cent solid matter (round fish have been shown to contain 19 

 per cent solid matter 1 ), the quantity of refuse would produce 7,852 

 tons of dried fish scrap. 



The utilization of any considerable portion of this waste for the 

 preparation of dried scrap, it will be seen, is economically impossible 

 when it is remembered that the fisheries are scattered the length of 

 the coast, that many fish are shipped to the various markets un- 

 dressed and are dressed either there or by the consumer, and that 

 the fresh fish marketed dressed frequently are prepared on "board 

 the fishing boats and the waste is thrown overboard. At present it 

 is true that practically all of the fish heads and offal available for 

 fertilizer purposes is the comparatively small amount produced at 

 the canneries. The fish-canning industry is carried on on the Maine 

 coast more actively than at any other locality on the Atlantic sea- 

 board, where a number of different sorts of fish, but principally 

 herring, are preserved. To a certain extent the waste from these 

 industries, known as " fish cuttings " and consisting of the heads 

 and viscera, is treated for the recovery of its oil and the preparation 

 of fish pomace or raw scrap. 



Concerning the practice at the herring canneries of the Passama- 

 quoddy region of maine, Hall 2 states : 



The " fisli cuttings " and refuse fish which accumulate at the canneries are 

 made into pomace and sold for fertilizer. When the herring are cut for sar- 

 dines the " cuttings," which include the heads and viscera, are first deposited 

 in barrels. They are afterwards removed to the press room and emptied in a 

 heap on the floor, being spread in layers and covered with salt to prevent them 

 from decomposing. The quantity of salt used is about 3 bushels to 5 barrels of 

 cuttings. After remainiug in the salt a short time they are put into three- 

 quarter hogshead tubs and thoroughly cooked with steam. * * * The tubs 

 are kept covered while the fish are cooking. After being cooked, the cuttings 

 are dipped with scoop nets from the tubs into the pomace presses. There are 

 usually two of these presses used in each cannery- * * * The pressure is 

 applied with a jackscrew operated by hand. While the fish are being pressed 

 the oil and water which they contain are carried off into an oil ta'nk by means 

 of an open spout. The pomace, when taken from the press, is packed into 

 barrels which are made for that purpose and hold about 275 pounds each. 

 It is sold largely to farmers in the vicinity at an average of about $9 per ton. 

 The oil is skimmed off the water in the tanks and put in barrels for shipment. 

 The price received in 1895 was about 14 cents per gallon. * * * 



It requires about 3 hogsheads of fish to yield 1 hogshead of cuttings and 5 

 hogsheads of cuttings to make 1 ton of pomace. It is generally estimated that 

 the yield of oil to each ton of pomace is from 20 to 23 gallons, but the propor- 

 tions in which the two products are sold show the average quantity of oil to 

 the ton of pomace to be a little less than 16 gallons. 



i Cf. p. 32. 



2 The Herring Industry of the Passamaquoddy Region. U. S. Fish Coram. Rept., 1896 ; . 

 cf. p. 479. 



