56 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



duced by the reduction works shows it to be an excellent fertilizer for 

 agricultural purposes. It is a coarse, powdery material of dark brown 

 colour and can readily be sold for $30.00 to $35.00 a ton. The oil is 

 sold at from ten cents to thirty cents per gallon although it might 

 readily realize forty cents per gallon. The oil varies in quantity and 

 quality very much. These are points into which I shall not enter in 

 detail here. The best oil is a very clear, pure liquid, not unpleasing to 

 sight and smell and, I believe, chemically, it is equal to to the best 

 cod-liver oil.' 



p.. Some attempt has been made to produce fish glue from 



Glue fish waste of this kind, but hitherto it has been found 



that the production of glue involves too much technical 

 knowledge and too many highly paid officers. That it can be manufac- 

 tured at a profit has been demonstrated by the success of the Russia 

 glue works at Gloucester. These glue works were started by two men, 

 very huml^le men, some years ago; they bought fish skins and fish 

 heads and have manufactured glue and fertilizer and such a success 

 has their venture been, that the company which they organized has 

 become a very prosperous company, with a large yield. When I was 

 in the works the other day, they were of about ten times the extent 

 they were a few years ago and they cannot adequately supply the 

 demand for their product. This demand is created by the excellence of 

 their glue. There is quite an opening in regaird to fish-glue products. 

 We waste an enormous amount of material, which would produce fish 

 glue, on the Banks and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence fisheries, and the 

 amount per annum would startle anybody. The fish waste is now 

 simply dumped into the sea. 



Vast numbers of eggs are available when dog-fish are 

 ifor Tannin"' being treated at the reduction works. The dog-fish 



produces living young, but the eggs are contained 

 inside the body and are about the size of small hen eggs. You see 

 tens of thousands- of them thrown around the wharves of the reduc- 

 tion works. It has been found that leather tanned with dog-fish eggs 

 becomes almost like chamois. They are a most excellent material for 

 use in the tanning process, so that here we have again another valuable 

 and unutilized resource. 



Doe-fish ■'■ ^^'^^ that dog-fish have been dealt with experiment- 



Undesirable ally as a food product. A few years ago a fish com- 

 as Food pany in Halifax canned a quantity of dog-fish and sold 

 them under the name of ocean whitefish. The flavour is quite good 

 and they have been pronounced something like halibut in flavour with 



