15 



public is mostly acquainted with goods of a high 

 and even strongly tainted flavour and considers that 

 goods perfectly cured and without a suspicion of 

 taint are "not up to the mark", an expression used 

 in an East Coast market where sardines and mackerel 

 "cured" (!) by simple drying without salt and of the 

 rankest flavour and cheapest price, were alone in demand ; 

 we have to seek and to reach that vast and respectable 

 class of the public which at present eats no fish because 

 the ordinary salt fish (karuvad) is unpleasant ; these can 

 usually aftbrd slightly higher prices for good goods, and 

 this will gradually effect a change in curing methods and 

 consequently in the goods supplied and accepted. Our 

 fish are rather too good, in the way of absence of taint, 

 for present demands ; it is the potential demand of a 

 better class market that such groods must find. Hence 

 the enquiry which my Personal Assistant has begun, as 

 further mentioned below, s.v. " Organization." 



A parcel of dry salt fish — cod, haddock, ling, etc., 

 was obtained as a specimen from England, and was a 

 revelation to curers in its appearance, flavour, etc. I 

 have experimentally adopted the Western method of 

 splitting the fish by the belly and removing the head and 

 most of the backbone ; this greatly improves appearance 

 and decreases weight for transport but is, at present, 

 objected to by purchasers ; I have also adopted slow 

 drying under shade, e.g., in a shed, to avoid the 

 discoloration from oil found in all native-cured fish, and 

 have recently obtained considerable success. 



lo. Smoking. — The ordinary and easy method of hard 

 salting and smoking, found quite successful at Ennore. 

 has been more or less discontinued partly from press of 

 other work, partly because private persons had taken it 

 up ; it will, however, ha-ve to be recommenced and 

 developed. In its place light smoking was begun, a 

 much more delicate operation ; the products, similar in 

 character to the bloater, kipper, and haddock of Great 

 Britain, are much more desirable as food, from flavour, 

 digestibility, ease of cooking, etc., than hard-salted goods, 

 but without proper trade organ'zation cannot be put 

 commercially on the market. For fish so treated will 

 only keep good for a few days or up to a fortnight at 

 most, so that unless there is a certain, regular market 

 and fixed demand for the goods, they may easily spoil 



