The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1904-02-12
r1sH FOR FERTILIZERS


Long before the white man found the
shores Of the North American con-
tinent the Indians used to fertilize the
soil for their small crops Of corn. says
the New York Tribune. On any sunny
morning in May one might have seen
them walking back and forth across
the open space which had been broken
up for the purpose. STOPPING to deposit
the small fish. taken the day previous
from the neighboring bay. In the hill
which was to receive the seed corn.
When the colonists came across the sea
they observed the methods Of the red
man and followed in his footsteps. At
this time. however. the use of fertilizer
was not required in large quantities.
owing to the natural fertility Of the
soil. In course of time the demand in-
creased. and the Indians fertilizer II
now used in large quantities. The in
significant menhaden. the fisherman's
bait and the Indians fertilizer. Is tho
fish which il used chiefly for this pur-
pose. It will surprise many persons to
learn that about 500 900 900 menhaden.
constituting about 30 per cent. of the
total catch of fish In the United States.
are taken every year. So important Is
the industry that factories equipped
with labor-saving devices Of the most
modern character are operated all
along the Atlantic coast to prepare the
fish for use as fertilizer
The establishment Of factories was
due to the interesting fact that fresh
fish contains from IS to 80 per cent. Of
Naturally. water is of little value Is .
fertilizer, and all that Is needed In this
respect is supplied by gentle showers
from heaven" The oil il prejudicial
to the decomposition of the fertilizer
when applied to the soil. but Is . useful
by-product and the factories are pro-
vided with cooking and COMPRISING
apparatus for extracting II. More
than 1000. 900 gallons Of oil are boiled
and squeezed annually from the ash
with the corrupted Indian name. Tho
SCRAP" which results from this II the
product used in enriching the soil. Tho
total annual product Of menhaden fer
tilizer in the United States is about S.
900 tons. valued At 81 $50 900.
Not only the menhaden but the
refuse from dressed fish. discarded ct
markets, canneries and homeless flsh"
factories. the carcasses Of whales.
skates. horseshoe crabs, oyster shells.
clam shells and seaweed are used as
plant food OF seaweed alone about
ESQ., 900 tons are thrown upon the land
each year and the waste flsh amounts
to about 10000 tons.
Before steamers were used for taking
the menhaden. large shore seines, made
of cotton twine, were employed. and In
some localities these were owned
Jointly by farmers Of the vicinity.
Some Of these seines were 5000 feet
long. Frequently the catch at q single
haul numbered several hundred thou
sand hsh. although the average haul
was nearer 10000 or 10000 Since
steamers and factories have been en-
ployed In the business the farmers In
. measure have discontinued catching
them, finding 1t more economical to
buy their fertilizer. Indeed. they fire.
quently take their catches to the fac
tories. finding 1t AZ economical to buy
the scrap" az to use the flsh In its
natural state.
Among the ash sometimes taken In
the nets are the looking skates
and bellows fish. In regard to the oil
they contain they are rather dry.
yielding less than . pint to = barrel
Of fish. For this reason they require
little treatment for u1e - fertilizer.
One may sometimes zee the skates dry
ing In the sun ON fencelike structures
In long rows. each one hanging by the
head from . hook. its triangular sides
dropping ON either side.