TURNING CITY WASTE INTO FOOD FOR FISHES.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 11 September 1914, Page 7

TURNING CITY WASTE INTO FOOD FOR FISHES.

RAISING COBLESS EARS Ol CORN, MAKING ARTIFICIAL EGGS. i ' , The interesting discovery has beei made by Professor S. A. Forbes of the University of Illinois, that the waste of Chicago is transform ed into perfectly wholesome fooc for fishes in the Illinois River. j This discovery is most important | because it points the way to in , creasing the food supply of the whole world. Nature did not in- ! tend that' the immense quantity ol nitrogenous material contained ir sewage and other waste should be thrown away, but provided methods , for purifying it. j When sewage is thrown into the water in immense quantities by modern cities it is not only wasted | but becomes a source of danger. On the other hand, when opportunities for purifying it are provided it be- : comes useful. j The city refuse, when thrown into i properly aerated waters, becomes j food for a certain kind of bacteria. j These in turn feed th.^plankton, the j minute form .of animal life .which , furnishes the necessary food for fish in the earliest stage of their j life. j Professor Forbes observed that j there was a close harmony between j the highest tides, which bring j plankton from the back waters, j where it is produced, into the | rivers, the climax of< its development | and the spawning season fur m \st fish. Then #he found that the plankton of the Illinois River, which is a great fish-producing stream, doul 1 ■<! in quantity after the sewage of Chicago began to be emptied into it. Observation showed that aft or the organic waste came through tho j drainage canal and the Dcs Plaines River and passed over the dam, where it was thoroughly aerated into the Illinois River, it was laid hold of by bacteria, which were next devoured by plankton. Professor Forbes's experiments prove that plant growth converts the waste of the land into useful and beautiful products, and in this case the converting is brought about by the co-operation of plant ami animal life. That is being done perfectly, to date, has been abundantly proved. It needs no scientific test to showthat the waters of the Illinois River are so purified by the process indicated that thoy are not contaminated by the sewage emptied into them, since it is impossible for fish to live in water in which the oxygen is exhausted by decaying waste, and not only has the quantity of plankton in this river doubled since the opening of the drainage canal, but the ..population of fish has much more than doubled. The statistics show that during theyear prior to the opening of the drainage canal "the fisheries of the Illionois River produced but seven thousand tons of fish, and that it is now producing twenty-three thousand tons per annum. A large proportion of this big catch, worth in round numbers £170,000, is sold in New York. The black bass taken from this river is most of it shipped there. This fish, which is strictly predacious, but lives on a great variety of animal food, furnishes an index to the general character of the waters in which it lives, and it is significant that five times as much black bass was taken from the Illinois River in 1908 as during any year previous to the openirg of the drainage canal. Not alone these, but a large proportion of other and better varieties oafish are shipped to Eastern markets. The waste of other cities can be converted, as in done in the Illinois River, into useful and perfectly wkolesome food. If a great intelligence and planned to show What nature can do with a large volume of waste in the way of completely transforming it, the conditions could not be more favorable in every way than they are where the sewage of Chicago is being disposed 3f according to nature's perfect plan of redistribution, Once a demonstration of this kind is made i way to duplicate the process is isually found, English chemists have recently lamented the fact that £16,000,000 u'orth of nitrogenous material in the 'orm of waste is annually thrown nto the sea by the cities of Engand and lost. This is deplorable, j jecause the great need of the world j s for nitrogen to grow more crops, j If the waste of English cities I ;ould be utilised as it is in the Chi- i :ago River, - this unfortunate loss I vould be avoided. Scientists are danning to use the nitrogenous vaste of all large communities by me method or another. Chemistry is working to increase md cheapen the food supply by in- ! reasing the productiveness of plants ' ls well as other natural foods. j ■ A remarkable illustration of what : an be done along this line is the J iroduction of an ear of corn which 1 ot only contains more corn than he ordinary ear, but has practi- ' ally no cob. The grains grow 1 pon branches. The new ear was 1 iscovered in a grain thut,had been, übjected for several generations to n ear-row selection for high proeid content of the endosperm, or i iner seed. , The new type of ear, which reprouces faithfully in its progeny, is 1 one-shaped in outline and gives the ppearance externally of being com- c osed of a mass of kernels borne a numerous irregular branches. I

It is a development of the fleshy type of four to thirty or more rowed cob common to all varieties "t of corn. The new type has been called "zea ramosa," meaning "corn F having branches." The branched ear is an ideal form .to feed whole to like stock. The slight cob is of such nature that it a may be readily masticated with the kernels and without the necessity of ' t .grinding or chopping before it is fed. It may also prove to be an j ideal type for ensilage. A great commercial corporation is t already engaged in manufacturing _ eggs which are said to be fully i as good as hens' eggs for cooking " purposes. It is claimed for them f that, like other chemical products, x they are free from germs and less liable to deterioration than the na- " tural article. : These eggs are made, from casein, % i which is the substance in milk that, , when curdled by acid, produces I cheese. Tho process of making tht } egg-like substance is kept a secret. , This, of course, is only the development of one form of food from a . natural food, but it is accomplished (by chemistry. It may be a step , in the process by which one professor has told us we shall even- ; tually obtain eggs from the nitro- | gen of the -air. One pound of casein will furnish . six dozen artificial eggs, which is a great economy over the methods of the hen, especially when eggs are ' selling at 2s. 6d. and upwards a , dozen. The artificial eggs will not hatch into chickens, nor can they , be satisfactorily poached, but they . make excellent omelets.