34 



unsmoked and smoked, have been repeatedly consumed 

 by myself and friends with satisfaction more than a 

 week after despatch from the station and frequently four 

 days en route. By the end of next season the experi- 

 ment will be developed sufficiently for publication ; at 

 present the mode of packing, almost as important 

 in this country as the curing, requires study and ex- 

 periment. But, as stated last year, the sale of such 

 fish requires thorough organization, since the supply and 

 demand must be so adjusted that there shall never be a 

 stock long on hand ; it must be sold almost immediately. 

 If my experiments prove as successful as they promise, 

 a very wide market and large demand should follow. 



9. Miseellaneotis. — This includes further experi- 

 ments in Tuashing salt ; the ordinary salt, as supplied to 

 the fish-curing yards, has so large a proportion of dust, 

 mud, sand, small shells, etc., that it is useless to attempt 

 first class curing with it ; the cleanest fish eat gritty. By 

 washing the salt in a sieve in a tub of semi-saturated brine, 

 an operation which a girl can carry out alone at the rate of 

 a maund per 20 minutes, and draining and drying the 

 washed salt, a very good and clean article is obtained with 

 a loss of something like 10 per cent of which about half 

 is mud and rubbish. This raises the price of a maund 

 from 10 to about 11 annas. The salt is then almost as 

 good as British duty-paid salt as regards cleanness, but 

 seems inferior as regards contents of sodium chloride. 



Old brine obtained in salting superior fish such as 

 varian, seer, pomfret, mackerel, etc., has been largely used 

 in brining sardines and other thin and small fish. Our fish 

 is so clean that the brine is perfectly good ; it has been 

 used either filtered — through sand and charcoal, etc. — or, 

 latterly, boiled ; it is found that an addition of about one- 

 third further salt brings the brine back to saturation and 

 keeps up its strength during brining. This, therefore, 

 represents a gain of two-thirds of the salt used in salting 

 sardines, etc., while the sardines gain a flavour which is 

 distinctly appreciated by purchasers. But the method 

 can only be practised safely when all the conditions of 

 cleanliness are observed. 



Attempts have been made to lessen the dangers 

 irom Jlies. In Virginia (United States of America) and 

 probably in other States, no factory dealing in fish is 

 allowed to carry on business in the fly season unless all 



