The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1901-04-18

Rich I'm Two Essential Elements Of Soil
Fertility

Rich In Two Essential Elements Of Sol
Fertility
The ISLANDER suggests that the fish
offal problem here, which has been q
source of some controversy OF late
might be most sensibly and satisfactor.
lily solved by the erection and opera
ton of a small fertilizer plant to con.
vert the large quantities of refuse neces.
sarily resulting from the operation OF
the cannery, and heretofore wholly
wasted, into one of the most valuable
manures for the promotion of soil fer.
tility. The raw material could doubt
less be obtained from the cannery with.
out cost, and comparatively little ex-
pense is involved in the process of con-
verting it into fertilizer. A bulletin
mo. Az on fish scrap fertilizers has
lately been issued by the agricultural
experiment station at Pullman, from
which we make the following extracts:
1--WE have at our very doors the ma
terial for the creation of one of the
greatest fertilizer industries in the
world. We have an economical source
for supply of nitrogen and phosphoric
acid for our soils which is UNSURPASSED
by its kind. On our eastern seabOard
such fertilizing material is carefully
husbanded, and is always Inadequate
to supply the demand.
"The elements of fertility which
must eventually be applied to our soils
in the form of fertilizers are nitrogen,
phOsphOric acid and potash.
"In the canning industry of Wash
ington an enormous amount of Offal
from the fish used is annually thrown
away. This offal consists of the nom
edible portions of the fish and cOnsti.
tutes about 80 per cent of the gross
weight. 1t is rich in two of the ele.
ments of soil fertility, namely, nitrogen
and phosphorlc acid. If this animal
matter were spread upon the soil, its
early decay would furnish good sup
ply of available heterogeneous and phos-
phatic plant food. The third essential
element of plant food, viz, potash, is
not plentiful in fish waste. Wood
ashes and the potash salts of commerce
must furnish the potash required for
fertilizing purposes i'm fish products.
The state of Washington in
1898 produced 5O,638, 760 pounds of
dressed fish, representing total value
of $2,S97 ,453. The refuse material
to about 81, 7O2 900 pounds
which if manufactured into fertilizer
would have produced about eight and
one-half million pounds. Assuming
this product to contain 7.25 per cent
nitrogen and 8.25 per cent phOsphoric
acid; and, assigning the usual trade
valuation of IA cents per pound for
nitrogen and Al cents per pound for
acid, its total valuation
would reach the sum of $l17,83l. 1t is
perhaps true that this state is not yet
ready to pay that sum annually for fer
but no one vino has looked
into the matter has any fear of a poor
market for such product. BY far the
greater part of the fertilizers now man.
ufactured in this state find ready
market abroad.
"Refering to fish scrap fertilizer
Storer says: There can be no question
but that farmers should buy this cheap
it as such; that is, under its own name,
instead of paying high price for 1t as
is now often done after 1t has been ad-
mixed with superphOsphate.' he also
says, Il have found fish scrap to serve
extremely we'll as a substitute for barn.
yard manure when used i'm conjunction
with wood ashes or the potassic fer
''Reports show the average analysis
of fish scrap for the United States to be
as follows: Nitrogen, 7.25 per cent,
acid 8.95 per cent. All the
acid is not considered avail
able.n