ECONOMICAL GEOLOGY. 115 



corn, turning the furrow away from the hill, and then to 

 deposit a fish in the furrow on each side of the hill, and, 

 after a day or two, to turn the furrow back to the hill 

 again, and cover the fish. In this way they carry the corn 

 through to maturity, and good crops are gathered from the 

 poorest and lightest soils in the State. 



Dr. Dekay, in the " Natural History of New York," says 

 of this fish that, "although it is seldom eaten, as it is dry, 

 without flavor, and full of bones, yet it is one of the most 

 valuable fish found within our waters. Its use as a manure 

 is well known in the counties of Suffolk, King's, and 

 Queen's, where it is a source of great wealth to the farmer 

 who lives upon the sea-coast. They are used in various 

 ways : for Indian corn, two or three are thrown on a hill ; 

 for wheat, they are thrown broadcast on the field, and 

 plowed under — although it is not uncommon to put them 

 in layers alternately with common mould, and, when 

 decomposed, spread it like any other compost. Its effects 

 in renovating old grass-fields, when spread over with these 

 fish at the rate of about two thousand to the acre, are very 

 remarkable." . . . 



" They appear on the shores of Long Island about the 

 beginning of June, in immense scholes ; and, as they fre- 

 quently swim with a part of the head above or near the 

 surface of the water, they are readily seen and captured. 

 They are commonly sold on the spot at the rate of two 

 dollars the wagon load, containing about a thousand fish. 

 The largest haul I remember to have heard of, was through 

 the surf at Bridgehampton, at the east end of the island. 

 Eighty-four wagon loads, or, in other words, 84,000 of 

 these fish were taken at a single haul." 



