191 



MANUFACTURE OF MENHADEN OIL. 



In our bay (the Peconic) there are no less than six manufactories con- 

 suming, in the aggregate, about 2,000,000 fish weekly. The fish are 

 chiefly caught in Gardiner's bay, where they abound in great quantities. 

 They are taken chiefly in what we call purse seines, and can be caught 

 in any depth of water. The fish are bought for 1 dollar per thousand. 

 These seines some days catch 150,000 each, which, you see, makes a paying 

 business of it. The manufactories are nearly all on different plans. 

 Some use large tanks, in which the fish are placed, and into which 

 steam is forced. A portion of the oil is extracted coming on the surface 

 of the water, and is skimmed off ; the water is then drained off, and 

 the refuse is pressed by hydraulic presses or powerful levers. In 

 another way of working used by one manufactory, the fish are placed 

 in a large iron cylinder, similar to a boiler, and steam is let in at a 

 given pressure while the cylinder is made to rotate by a steam-engine- 

 The fish are steamed from 12 to 15 minutes, then turned out, and sub- 

 jected to hydraulic pressure, which, of course, extracts oil and water 

 together. This runs through pipes into tanks, where the oil rises to the 

 top, and is taken off. There is a patent for this cylinder style, as it is 

 called. The fish, after having being pressed, are dried on large plat- 

 forms (some of them covering half an acre of ground), and after being 

 thoroughly dried, the mass is ground down to what is called fish guano, 

 ranging in price from 25 to 35 dollars per ton, and is considered an ex- 

 cellent fertiliser. These manufactories employ from 15 to 60 men each, 

 and consume an enormous quantity of fish. That it is a paying business 

 I have no doubt, considering the amount vested in it, which is consider- 

 able, the manufactories costing from 10,000 to 60,000 dollars each. 



Greenport, Long Island. WHITE HlLL. 



Irintttut JIutrs. 



The Proposed New Substitute for Cotton. — The grass-wrack 

 (Zostera marina) for the manufacture of paper, was patented by Lucius 

 Henry Spooner, in 1855 ; it is also much used for packing, and for 

 stuffing common beds and pillows. Although apparently flaccid and 

 tender, it is employed in some parts of Sweden for thatching, and is 

 found to be very durable ; another species {Zostera oceanica) has leaves 

 a foot long and an inch broad, this is even more valuable as a material 

 for thatching than Zostera marina, it also furnishes the rush-like sub- 

 stance used as a covering for Italian liquor-flasks. 



The fibre of Zostera bleaches well, indeed, endogenous fibres are for 

 the most part of a beautiful white colour, as seen in the fibre of the pine- 

 apple, the agave, the manilla, &c. The separation of the fibre of the 

 grass-wrack and of all endogens is also more easy and economical than 



