THE MENHADEN OP THE GULF OF MEXICO. 575 



shores, stimulating the crops for a time, but in the end filling the soil with oil, parching it and 

 making it unfit for tillage. Since that time manifold uses have been found. As a bait-fish this 

 excels all others ; for many years much the greater share of our mackerel was caught by its aid, 

 while the cod and halibut fleet use it rather than any other fish when it can be procured. The 

 total consumption of Menhaden for bait in 1877, did not fall below 80,000 barrels, or 26,000,000 

 fish, valued at $500,000. ' Ten years before, when the entire mackerel fleet was fishing with hooks, 

 the consumption was much greater. The Dominion mackerel fleet buy Menhaden bait in quantity, 

 and its value has been thought an important element in framing treaties between our government 

 and that of Great Britain. 



As a food resource it is found to have great possibilities. Many hundreds of barrels are sold 

 in the West Indies, while thousands of barrels are salted down for domestic use by families living 

 near the shore. In many sections they are sold fresh in the market. Within six years there has 

 sprung up an important industry, which consists in packing these fish in oil, after the manner of 

 sardines, for home and foreign consumption. In 1874 the production of canned fish did not fall 

 below 500,000 boxes. 



The discovery made by Mr. S. L. Goodale, that from these fish may be extracted, for the cost 

 of carefully boiling them, a substance possessing all the properties of Liebig's " Extract of beef," 

 opens up a vast field for future development. As a food for the domestic animals in the form of 

 " fish meal," there seems also to be a broad opening. As a source of oil, the menhaden is of more 

 importance than any other marine animal. Its annual yield usually exceeds that of the whale 

 (from the American fisheries) by about 200,000 gallons, and in 1874 did not fall far short of the 

 aggregate of all the whale, seal, and cod oil made in America. In 1878 the menhaden oil and 

 guano industry employed capital to the amount of $2,350,000, 3,337 men, 64 steamers, 279 sailing 

 vessels, and consumed 777,000,000 fish ; there were 56 factories, which produced 1,392,644 gallons 

 of oil, valued at $450,000, and 55,154 tons of crude guano, valued at $600,000; this was a poor 

 year. In 1 874 the number of gallons produced was 3,373,000 ; in 1875, 2,681,000 ; in 1876, 2,992,000 ; 

 in 1877, 2,427,000. In 1878 the total value of manufactured products was $1,050,000 ; in 1874 this 

 was $1,809,000 ; in 1875, $1,582,000 ; in 1876, $1,671,000 ; in 1877, $1,608,000. It should be stated 

 that in these reports only four-fifths of the whole number of factories were included. In 1880 the 

 number of persons employed in the entire industry was placed at 3,635, the amount of caj ital 

 invested $2,362,841, the value of products $2,116,787, including 2,066,396 gallons of oil, worth 

 $733,424, and 68,904 tons of guano, worth $1,301,217. The refuse of the oil factories supplies a 

 material of much value for manures. As a base for nitrogen it enters largely into the composition 

 of most of the manufactured fertilizers. The amount of nitrogen derived from this source in 1875 

 was estimated to be equivalent to that contained in 60,000,000 pounds of Peruvian guano, the gold 

 value of which would not have been far from $1,920,000. Tile yield of the menhaden fishery in 

 pounds is pi'obably triple that of any other carried on by the fishermen of the United States. 



In estimating the importance of the Menhaden to the United States, it should be borne in 

 mind that its absence from our waters would probably reduce all our other sea-fisheries to at least 

 one-fourth their present extent. 



175. THE GUIF MENHADEN— BREVOORTIA. PATRONTJS. 



In addition to the common Menhaden, a second North American species has recently been 

 discovered.^ This species has been reported only from the Gulf of Mexico, where the following 

 observations were made by Mr. Silas Stearns : 



' See Report United States Commission Pish and Fisheries, part v, pp. 17 and 26, and Proceedings of the United 

 States National Museum, vol. i. 



