: I ' ' ', I, \ 

 FISH MEAL AS A STOCK A)ND POULTRY FOOD. 3 



origin and of fish meal for feeding purposes, it appears that prefer- 

 ence was given to such material as meat meal and tankage, and that 

 in after years fish meal was forgotten. It was also generally assumed 

 that feeding domestic animals fish would result in imparting a char- 

 acteristic taint to the food products from the animals. This impres- 

 sion was undoubtedly obtained as a result of allowing animals to 

 eat too freely of fish wastes, particularly that which was in an ad- 

 vanced stage of spoilage. The present time — feeding stuffs of high 

 protein content being so much in demand — would seem to be a fit- 

 ting and proper one in which to call upon this reserve supply of 

 protein so abundantly supplied by waste fish and by the waste of 

 fish-canning industries. 



REVIEW OF LITERATURE. 



The literature on the use of fish meal for feeding purposes was 

 found to be more extensive than casual inspection had shown. The 

 greater part of the experimental work on this subject has been con- 

 ducted in Germany, as a result of which the use of this material for 

 feeding purposes in that country is now on a firm basis. The more 

 important articles are cited here in chronological order and fairly 

 full abstracts are given of some, in order that the accumulation of 

 evidence may allay any prejudice that may exist against the use of 

 fish meal as a foodstuff for domestic animals. 



In 1869 M. L. Wilder,^ of Pembroke, Me., a member of the board of agri- 

 culture of that State, presented his experience in the use of fish " offal " as a 

 feed for sheep. He believed " fish offal to be not only cheaper but much 

 superior to any other kind of provender he had ever used " for this purpose. 

 The " offal " referred to was made from herring, which were salted the same 

 as for smoking, cooked, and the oil pressed out. It is stated that the sheep 

 ate of this more eagerly than of grain. Experiments similar to the above were 

 made by other persons in later years.^ 



In 1875 Farrington* conducted feeding experiments with sheep at the 

 Maine Agricultural College, comparing the value of equal quantities of corn 

 and of fish " pomace " made from herring. Two flocks of 5 lambs each were 

 fed about 2 ounces per head per day, the lambs in each group being allowed 

 all the hay they would eat. During the 16 weeks of the experiment the corn- 

 fed flock gained 48 pounds, or 15.13 per cent, and the lot fed on fish 47i 

 pounds, or 15.01 per cent. 



Henry, in Feeds and Feeding, reports statements from several authors to 

 the effect that it has been determined that no bad infliience on the milk is 

 found when dried fish are fed in reasonable quantities to dairy cows, and that 

 it has been found that 100 parts of linseed (?ake can be replaced in the ration 

 for cows by 80 parts of hei'ring cake. In one test milk and butter of normal 

 quality were produced when 2.3 pounds of fat-free fish meal per day were 

 fed with a variety of other feed. The statement is made by this authority that 

 the better grades of fish meal should be used for feeding. 



» Agriculture of Maine, 1869, p. 60. 



"Agriculture of Maine, 1874-75, p. 1. 



•Cited by Atwater in Goode, O. S. Fish Comm. Ept, 1877, p. 260. 



