242 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



Following- are some of the products for which a ready market exists 

 01" may be created in Japan, and which it would be profitable to export: 



Fish guano. — The comparati\Tly small percentage of arable land 

 and the immense agricultural population necessitate the raising of a 

 succession of crops. In no other country is agriculture more inten- 

 sive, and the continued use of large quantities of fertilizer is required. 

 City refuse, fish, seaweed, straw, grass, brush, and various other 

 things are employed, and a fertilizer made from so^^-ljean refuse is 

 now imported from China. There exists a xavy large and constant 

 demand for a cheap, Avy lish-guano, such as may be made from waste 

 fish or the refuse of canneries. 



Canned fish. — There is as 3"et no great demand aniong the Japanese 

 for canned fish, owing to the abundance, availability, and cheapness 

 of fresh fish. As the people become better acquainted with the tinned 

 product, it is probable that the demand will be supplied chieily by local 

 canneries, which are alread}^ putting up an excellent grade of sardines, 

 anchovies, etc. The canned fish prepared in America which seems 

 most likely to be in demand in Japan is salmon. The American 

 Asiatic, in the issue of April 7, 1903, stated: " Every cargo now shows 

 canned salmon moving to the Orient. A 3'ear ago such a movement 

 was unknown. Sahnon is now selling in the Orient as California 

 canned fruits sold in Europe when they began to be exhibited there." 

 The shipments of canned salmon to Japan, however, are comparatively 

 light, and are destined mostl}' for consumption among foreign resi- 

 dents there. This product, to meet with read}^ sale among the natives, 

 must be low priced, retailing at not more than 7^ or 10 cents per 

 1-pound can. Dcg, humpback, and silver salmon could be most 

 advantageously canned for the Japanese trade. 



Salted sa/mcm. — It is believed that the fishery product in which 

 there are the best prospects for establishing a profitable trade is salted 

 salmon. The local catch is not sufficient to meet the demand and the 

 supply is decreasing. *Small quantities of salted salmon are now 

 imported from the United States, Canada, and Asiatic Russia. Dog- 

 salmon and other cheap species of Alaska and the Pacific States would 

 find a ready market if properlj^ prepared; dog salmon is the principal 

 species utilized in Japan. The fish should be split along the abdomen 

 as far as the 'Vent, eviscerated, and lightl}' salted with the abdomen 

 compressed laterally, not spread, the head being left on. The salting 

 should be so regulated as to leave the fish soft and fiexible, not hard 

 and stifl'. The best time to ship is November and December, as the 

 greatest demand comes in the latter part of December — dry-salted sal- 

 mon being very generall}^ given as end-of-the-year and new-year 

 presents. A 10-pound dog salmon now retails for 25 to 50 cents. 

 The value of the imports of salted salmon and trout into Japan in 



