﻿FISH-SCRAP FERTILIZER INDUSTRY OF ATLANTIC COAST. 31 



odors at times created at the plant. Since fish almost invariably 

 are unloaded from vessels of considerable tonnage and draft, prox- 

 imity to a water course of sufficient depth is essential to permit the 

 fishing boats to approach their docks. In the case of most of the 

 plants, docks of only moderate length have been required. In one 

 instance the entire factory has been built over the water. 



The elevators and other hoisting and unloading devices are situated 

 on the ends of the docks. The storage bins likewise may be built 

 on the docks, though more generally they are to be found closer to 

 the factory. If the former, they are so situated with respect to the 

 elevator that they are supplied directly from the measuring- appa- 

 ratus forming a part of the elevator; if the latter, they are fed by 

 cable cars or automatic conveyers. The bins are situated at such an 

 elevation that the fish after leaving them again do not have to be 

 raised to any considerable height. In accordance with this arrange- 

 ment, the cookers and presses are placed on the second floor of the 

 factory, the cooker at a greater elevation than the press, and the 

 drier on the ground floor. 



The equipment of the average factory consists of one dock, eleva- 

 tor, bin, cooker, press, and drier, with a capacity for the factory of 

 about 100,000 fish per hour. The largest factory on the coast has 

 two cookers, each of 500 barrels per hour capacity, and six presses. 

 The usual rate of operation of this plant is 600 to 900 barrels fish 

 per hour. It has produced oil at the rate of 75 barrels per hour. 



Besides the equipment mentioned there is required also a steam and 

 power plant to supply steam for the cookers and oil boilers and to 

 furnish power for driving the machinery. For the average plant, 

 of one working unit, a boiler capacity of about 300 horsepower is 

 adequate. Certain plants generate their own electric power, and at 

 least one has installed separate electric motors for driving the various 

 pieces of apparatus with moving parts. 



Capacious storehouses are provided to hold the dried scrap. These 

 usually are built as a separate part of the plant to reduce fire risks, 

 and often are capable of holding the season's output. Bagging is 

 usually done by hand at times when the rest of the plant is lying idle, 

 and is carried on in this building. The output of a plant is deter- 

 mined, not by its capacity but largely by the number and success of 

 the boats fishing for that plant. The average number of steamers 

 operated by a factory is 3. One company operates 27 steamers, 11 of 

 which carry their catches to one factory, while certain manufacturers 

 depend for their supply entirely on the fish sold to them by fishermen 

 working independently. The price of raw fish varies from season to 

 season; during the summer of 1911 $2.25 was paid for 1,000, while 

 during 1912 raw fish brought $1.50 to $2 per 1,000. Since so much 



