Miscellaneous Results from the Laboratory. 



013 



value far beneath that which it holds as an article of commerce. The 

 oil of sprats is a clear, limpid fluid, and would no doubt be highly prized 

 in the market. It would probably be capable of easy extraction by pres- 

 sure,* which at the same time would remove the water and reduce the sprat 

 to a dry mass. This dry residue would contain nearly 12 per cent, of nitro- 

 gen,f a quantity greater than in any known manure, with the exception of 

 guano. The manure would be portable, and worth its carriage to any 

 distance ; and from the pressure to which it had been subjected, together 

 with the absence of water, capable of being kept for any length of time 

 till it was required for use as a drill manure. 



These remarks are only thrown out as hints to the many reflecting men 

 who are ever anxious to take advantage of the opportunities which are so 

 generally presented to us, if only the intelligence and energy to benefit 

 by them'be not wanting. It is not for me to say whether the preparation 

 of a dry manure from fish, depending for its expense on the product of 

 oil, is economically practicable ; but should it be so, I am sure that sooner 

 or later the redundant capital of the country would be brought to bear 

 upon this new importation of manure, to the advancement of general agri- 

 culture and the benefit of the speculators. 



The circumstance which alone makes the matter worthy of considera- 

 tion is the fact— previously, I believe, unobserved— of the large quantity 

 of pure oil which sprats contain, together with the possibility of ex- 

 tracting it by pressure with equal or greater ease than that of linseed. 

 The great difficulties which would stand in the way of this manufacture 

 would be, first, the uncertainty of the season in regard to quantity ; and, 

 secondly, the short period of the year during which the manufacture 

 could be carried on. Of the first circumstance I have very little know- 

 ledge ; but the remedy in such case would be of the same kind as that 

 which I should propose for the second trouble. In order that the presses 

 and other machinery of the sprat-manure maker should not be idle during 

 two-thirds of the year, he should also be a manufacturer of linseed-cake, 

 in the production of which he should employ himself when the other 

 branch of his business was from circumstances impracticable. 



Tt is probable that many other kinds of fish, some of which are caught 

 in enormous quantity, might be applicable to the same purposes. 



Liquid Manure. — The following analysis of the contents of Mr. Huxtable's 

 liquid-manure tank will probably be of use as furnishing a practical basis 

 upon which the farmer may build his calculation for the use of tank-water. 



The tank in question receives the liquid running from the cow r -houses, 

 the stables, and the piggeries — none of the water from the yards or the 

 buildings is allowed to find its way into it; Mr. Huxtable's practice being 

 to dilute the tank-water at pleasure and according to circumstances at the 

 time of using it. The liquid mainly consists, therefore, of the putrid urine 

 of cows. In taking the specimens for analysis, the contents of the tank 

 were stirred in such a way that an equal proportion of the sediment could 

 be collected ; owing, however, to the mode in which the urine is conveyed 

 to the tank, the deposit in it is very slight. 



It must be understood that the analysis exhibits the composition of 

 putrid urine, or tank-water which has been kept some time ; in this con- 

 dition all or almost all of the animal matters will have passed into the state 

 of ammonia ; but with this exception, there is no difference between the 

 urine in the two states, and the analysis will for all practical purposes 

 equally represent the value of fresh tank-water as a manure. 



* Since the above was in type, I have been informed by a gentleman, that with the 

 aid of a powerful press he had failed to extract more than 1 £ or 2 per cent, of oil from 

 the fish. 



f Practically perhaps so perfect a result could not be hoped for. 

 VOL. X. 2 S 



