S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
greatly increased numbers, and the adoption of presses for separating 
the oil and increasing the yield of it, in the place of the older method 
of depending on the lighter specific gravity of the oil to effect a 
separation. Hand presses were introduced in 1856 by Mr. Charles 
Tuthill, of the Wells factory on Shelter Island. In 1858 hydraulic 
power was introduced as a substitute for hand power. In more 
recent years, however, steam presses have been introduced with such 
success that they are to be found in practically every new factory, 
and they are rapidly being installed in the old factories to take the 
place of those operated by hydraulic power. A further rapid devel- 
opment of the industry was made possible through the substitution 
of steamers for sailing vessels ; this rendered the fishermen independ- 
ent of the winds in searching for and overtaking the schools of fish 
and in returning to the factories with their cargoes. In spite of this 
self-evident advantage, it has been only within the last few years that 
the last sailboats of considerable size, fishing for menhaden, have 
been equipped with auxiliary engines. 1 
The so-called " floating factory " was designed to obviate loss of 
time by the fishing boats in going back and forth between the fac- 
tories and the fishing grounds, the idea being to carry the factory to 
the fish instead of taking the fish to the factory. Introduced in 1876, 
a number had been constructed and were in operation in 1880. They 
consisted of boats of various sorts equipped with the apparatus for 
rendering the fish, such as boilers, cooking vats, and presses. The 
lack of storage room for the products, the difficulty of loading and 
unloading at sea, and other considerations brought about their aban- 
donment. The latest attempt to apply the floating-factory idea was 
in 1911, when a steamer of 5,000 tons was equipped with a complete 
set of the modern automatic apparatus for producing dried scrap. 1 
A form of fish-scrap fertilizer which could be shipped long distances 
or stored was prepared first by drying the scrap from the presses on 
platforms. Here the material was spread to dry and was manipu- 
lated in the meantime by hand rakes or hoes to expose fresh surfaces. 
In certain instances the platform drier is still in use, notably in those 
neighborhoods where the odor and smoke from hot-air driers de- 
velops a hostile attitude of neighboring communities. However, the 
dispatch and convenience with which scrap may be dried in the arti- 
ficial driers have led to their almost universal adoption. 
The business continued to expand until it reached its high-water mark in 1884, 
when 858,592,691 fish were caught, yielding 3,722,927 gallons of oil and 68,863 
tons of scrap, valued at $2,800,000. Since that time great improvements have 
been made in the methods of the industry, but owing to the low price of oil 
and scrap, resulting from the competition with other products, the profits have 
not been so great, and many factories have been dismantled. The largest catch 
1 For a description of this plant gf. section on Technology, p. 32, 
