2 BULLETIN 378, U. S. DEPART^MEN'T OF AGRICULTTJEE. 



of this industry the oil was tljie, principal material sought; the 

 " scrap " was considered waste and was not generally used as a 

 fertilizer. 



It is indeed surprising that in the matter of furthering economy 

 the use as a stock food of fish meal prepared from undecomposed 

 raw material has not been fostered in this country. This is partic- 

 ularly striking in view of the fact that attention was called to the 

 possibilities of fish meal as a feeding stuff a number of years ago, 

 both in this country and abroad. In 1877 Dr. W. O. Atwater ^ re- 

 viewed the manufacture and use of fish manures and at that time 

 urged the use of the fish scrap from the menhaden as a source of 

 protein for stock foods. Such use of this material would have made 

 possible the utilization of its high feeding value and at the same 

 time would not have impaired, but to a great extent would have 

 enhanced, its fertilizing value. The fertilizing constituents would 

 be more available after digestion, and manure from animals so fed 

 would contain the plant food material derived from the fish in a more 

 readily assimilable form. 



The experimental work on the use of fish meal as food for stock 

 dates back to the time when similar work was conducted in connec- 

 tion with the use of meat meal and tankage for this purpose. In 

 fact, in this country even before the attention of feeders was called 

 to these latter foodstuffs as supplementary stock foods, reports of 

 experiments directed attention to the use of fish as food for domestic 

 animals. Dr. Atwater - in his report records the year 1835 as the 

 earliest in which there appears any account of the use of fish as food 

 for domestic animals. 



As early as 1864 ^ fish " pomace " or " chum " (the residue left from 

 herring or other small fish after removal of the greater part of 

 the oil by pressing) was spoken of in high terms as furnishing a 

 valuable feed for sheep, swine, and fowls, all of which ate it greedily. 

 No doubt use was made of fish in this form, in isolated instances, 

 by farmers living near the coasts who had access to this material in 

 its fresh condition. The writer has been informed of its use in 

 Maine in the early days of the sardine industry, when the residue 

 from the packing of sardines after removal of part of the oil by 

 pressing was fed to sheep with excellent results as to fattening and 

 wool production. 



Shortly after the time the earlier experimental work and feeding 

 tests were made to ascertain the value of waste residues of animal 



1 See Ms special report on " Menhaden and other Fish and Their Products as Related 

 to Agriculture " to Goode, " History of the American Menhaden," U. S. Fish Comm. Rept., 

 1877, pp. 194-267. 



a Goode, Atwater, loc. cit., p. 258. 



3 William D. Dana, in a report of the Maine Board of Agriculture. See Agriculture of 

 Malae, 1864, p. 43. 



