H 



addition (o'5 per cent of the weight of the fish) of a 

 boric preservative to the salt or brine insures preserva- 

 tion for several days ; (4) that one may not count on more 

 than 48 hours' preservation if the fish are packed in a 

 parcel ; longer if the fish are hung up in an airy place ; 

 (5) that the very slight saline fiavour noticed when the 

 brined fish is tasted raw, disappears on cooking. The 

 o*5 per cent boric preservative, innocuous in itself, 

 is well within the limit (o'5 per cent of pure boric acid) 

 allowed by the British Departmental Committee for 

 mixing with butter, etc., whereas this amount of pre- 

 servative which, as sold, is a mixture of boric acid, 

 borax, and salt, is merely added as an external 

 application of which the greater part remains in the 

 brine and wholly disappears in cooking. All working 

 details will be given in my new edition of the 

 " Preservation and Curing of Fish ". The experiments 

 enable fish under the above conditions to be sent up- 

 country without curing, and in a better and less 

 dangerous condition than if badly packed in insufficient 

 ice. Ice is an excellent preservative if the fish is fresh, 

 if the ice is pure, if it is sufficient, if the fish and ice are 

 properly packed in proper receptacles so that the fish is 

 kept continuously below 32° F. ; otherwise I prefer the 

 above safe process for brief preservation. The methods 

 will be more closely studied next season. 



9. Ordinary salting and drying. — The fish from the 

 Ratnagiri boats and, later, from the " Sutherland " 

 provided material for ordinary curing work. This was 

 successful and the products generally — mere experiments 

 excluded — were found not only commercially acceptable 

 for Ceylon, but realized in several cases, e.g., mackerel, 

 considerably higher prices than ordinary goods ; e.g., 

 I sold 30,000 mackerel at Rs. 4-14-0 per 1,000 when 

 local wholesale prices were only Rs. 4-2-0. Prices, 

 however, are not, at present, fair tests for various 

 reasons ; (i) we do not know the fancies of the particular 

 markets, e.g., Madras does not care for good fish dry- 

 cured and highly salted as for Ceylon ; it desires moister 

 goods of a high flavour, and so on ; Ceylon demands 

 dry goods but they must be split down the back, and 

 have the back- bone cut under and turned over; if 

 split down the belly, as is required by gutting at sea, 

 they fetch a lower price ; (2) the present salt-fish eating 



