THE FRENCH SARDINE INDUSTRY. 553 



upward of a quarter of a million of fish daily. The yearly output 

 of individual establishments is from 300,000 to 4,000,000 or 5,000,000 

 boxes. No complete statistics for the canning indvistry are available, 

 but over 100 factories are operated and not less than 15,000 persons 

 are employed therein. Concarneau and Douarnenez have more fac- 

 tories than any other localities, the number operated in 1900 being 

 29 and 25, respectively. A large number of the canning establish- 

 ments are owned or leased by companies having headquarters at 

 Bordeaux and Nantes. 



The various processes to which the sardines are subjected in the 

 course of canning may now briefly be noticed. As soon as the fish 

 reach the factories, their heads and viscera are removed by women, who 

 perform their work with great rapidity. The fish are then sorted by 

 size into large tubs of strong brine, where they remain for about an 

 hour. They are then placed in small wicker baskets and washed in 

 either fresh or salt water for a few seconds, to remove loose scales, dirt 

 and undissolved salt. 



Drying, the next step, is done preferably in the open air, and a large 

 part of the product is so treated. For open-air drying the fish are ar- 

 ranged by hand, one by one, in wire baskets or trays, holding about 

 150 fish of medium size, placed on wooden frames or flakes. The 

 distinctive feature of the trays is their division into about 7 V-shaped 

 crosswise compartments, in which the sardines are placed in regular 

 rows, with their tails upward, so as to promote the escape of water 

 from the abdominal cavity. The sardines remain out for a variable 

 time, depending on their size, the state of the atmosphere, etc. The 

 usual time in favorable weather is one hour. In damp, foggy or rainy 

 weather the sardines must be dried indoors by artificial heat, and dry- 

 ing ensues much sooner than in the open air. Some factories, not 

 being provided with driers, are unable to operate ifi such weather. In 

 most of the factories, especially those more recently constructed, arti- 

 ficial heat is supplied in a special drying chamber by means of steam 

 pipes. 



From the drying fiakes the fish are taken in the same wire baskets to 

 the cooking room and immersed in boiling oil, in open vats of various 

 sizes and construction. As the fish are quite dry, much of the oil 

 is taken up in cooking and has to be replaced from time to time by 

 fresh oil. The immersion in oil usually lasts about two minutes, but 

 varies with the size of the fish and is best gauged by experience. The 

 baskets are first removed to a table or platform with an inclined metal 

 top, where the surplus oil is allowed to drain from the fish, and then 

 taken to the packing room. There the sardines are carefully placed 

 in tin cans. After the cans are sealed, they are immersed in boiling 

 water for several hours ; this accomplishes a fourfold purpose : ( 1 ) The 



