FISH-SCRAP FERTILIZER INDUSTRY OF ATLANTIC COAST. 31 
odors at times created at the plant. Since fish almost invariably 
are unloaded from vessels of considerable tonnage and draft, prox- 
imity to a water course of sufficient depth is essential to permit the 
fishing boats to approach their docks. In the case of most of the 
plants, docks of only moderate length have been required. In one 
instance the entire factory has been built over the water. 
The elevators and other hoisting and unloading devices are situated 
on the ends of the docks. The storage bins likewise may be built 
on the docks, though more generally they are to be found closer to 
the factory. If the former, they are so situated with respect to the 
elevator that they are supplied directly from the measuring appa- 
ratus forming a part of the elevator; if the latter, they are fed by 
cable cars or automatic conveyers. The bins are situated at such an 
elevation that the fish after leaving them again do not have to be 
raised to any considerable height. In accordance with this arrange- 
ment, the cookers and presses are placed on the second floor of the 
factory, the cooker at a greater elevation than the press, and the 
drier on the ground floor. 
The equipment of the average factory consists of one dock, eleva- 
tor, bin, cooker, press, and drier, with a capacity for the factor}^ of 
about 100,000 fish per hour. The largest factory on the coast has 
two cookers, each of 500 barrels per hour capacity, and six presses. 
The usual rate of operation of this plant is 600 to 900 barrels fish 
per hour. It has produced oil at the rate of 75 barrels per hour. 
Besides the equipment mentioned there is required also a steam and 
power plant to supply steam for the cookers and oil boilers and to 
furnish power for driving the machine^. For the average plant, 
of one working unit, a boiler capacity of about 300 horsepower is 
adequate. Certain plants generate their own electric power, and at 
least one has installed separate electric motors for driving the various 
pieces of apparatus with moving parts. 
Capacious storehouses are provided to hold the dried scrap. These 
usually are built as a separate part of the plant to reduce fire risks, 
and often are capable of holding the season's output. Bagging is 
usually done by hand at times when the rest of the plant is lying idle, 
and is carried on in this building. The output of a plant is deter- 
mined, not by its capacity but largely by the number and success of 
the boats fishing for that plant. The average number of steamers 
operated by a factory is 3. One company operates 27 steamers, 11 of 
which carry their catches to one factory, while certain manufacturers 
depend for their supply entirely on the fish sold to them by fishermen 
working independently. The price of raw fish varies from season to 
season; during the summer of 1911 $2.25 was paid for 1,000, while 
during 1912 raw fish brought $1.50 to $2 per 1,000. Since so much 
