No. 4 (1921) FISHERIES OF NORWAY 21 



teacher is employed to teach the rudiments of the principles 

 involved in successful canning, to teach soldering and to demon- 

 strate the various steps in the process. Sterilization or processing 

 is done by means of immersion in pans of boiling water. 



The apparatus used is necessarily of the simplest nature ; a 

 trestle table, a couple of hammers, a brazier and soldering iron, 

 and an iron boiler or kettle, comprise the essentials, the containers 

 being bought ready made. The actual canning is carried out by 

 the fisherman himself with the help of his family. The society 

 assists also in disposing of the worker's products and gives every 

 possible encouragement to fishermen to embark on this small 

 industry and to maintain a high standard of quality. Whether 

 the industry will have more than ephemeral success is doubtful; 

 Norwegian fishery experts are by no means unanimously in 

 favour of the experiment ; adverse critics point to the difficulty of 

 maintaining an even standard of quality and the possibility of bad 

 or careless packing and processing with consequences harmful 

 to the consumer; they point to the difficulty of any man carrying 

 on successfully two distinc^^ trades. Conversely the advocates of 

 the scheme point to the notable successes of certain of the men 

 who have taken it up; on the whole I believe the experiment has 

 justified itself, not so much perhaps in regard to the main object 

 of the original promoters, that of creating an extensively carried 

 on home-industry, as in giving opportunities to enterprising men 

 to learn the principles of canning and to lay the foundation of 

 enterprises that may develop into self-contained canning factories 

 carried on upon a commercial scale. 



v.— THE ROLE OF FISHERY SOCIETIES. 



The part played in Norway by non-official associations formed 

 for the promotion of the fishing industry in all its branches is of 

 the greatest importance, particularly in the direction of catering 

 for local requirements. They are found in the chief sea-coast 

 fishing towns (Bergen, Trondhjem, Stavanger, Aalesund, Kristian- 

 sund), and in most centres where fishing is carried on upon an 

 extensive scale. They originated generally from private initiative, 

 relying largely for their resources upon the generosity of the citi- 

 zens and the trade and upon contributions from the local communes 

 and municipalities. With growth and wider aims, the aid of the 

 State, through the Fisheries Department was sought and obtained, 



