22 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



[July i, iS86, 



re 



importatiou of Mocha is about the same as last year, 

 Imt the 18,000 bales received at all the ports is but a 

 sniiill percentage of the Mocha consumed, Santos I'ea 

 Berrj' ami other similar appearing beaus being used l)y 

 mixers to supplement the supply of genuine Mocha. 

 There has been a considerable increase in the import- 

 ations from Holland, which are nominally brought over 

 as the ijroduct of the East Indies, but the mixing 

 proclivities of Dutch coffee traders are too well known to 

 make the identity of these grades in any sense sure. 



— yew York Sliip/'i"!/ List. 



^. 



PRESERVATION OF FRESH FISH. 



In my official report on the town of Tellicberry 

 corded in (!. O., Financial Department, No. 1G(3 

 M., of 20th Februarj 188(), it was mentioned that 

 " at the time of my visit fresh sardines of large size 

 were being sold at the rate of 100 for quarter of 

 an anna." It was further remarked that " as this fish 

 is so abundant at certain seasons and so cheap, it 

 seems a great pity that it could not be cured in 

 large (juantities so as to keep good for some time 

 for. the benefit of the inland population.*' At other 

 places on the coast I was also much struck with 

 the rich harvest of the sea both as to numbers and 

 variety, and the subject of the more general utilization 

 of fresh fish has at intervals occupied my thoughts 

 ever since. It was, therefore, with much satisfaction 

 that I noticed in recent issues of The WeeUi/ Scots- 

 man a series of papers by so distinguished an authority 

 as Trofessor Cossar Ewart on the preservation of 

 fish, and, as one of these is calculated to be of some 

 use now or hereafter in the way of increasing the 

 food supplies of the rural population of Southern 

 India, I take the liberty, and have now the honor, 

 to submit it to the Right Honorable the Governor 

 in Council with the suggestion that it might advantage- 

 ously be republished in the District Gazette of Malabar 

 and perhaps also in the Gazettes of some other 

 maritime districts on the East Coast. Professor Ewart's 

 attention was directed to the subject by the discovery 

 that through the use of a " chemical i^owder"' in 

 preserving her fish, Norway was driving indigenous 

 fresh herrings out of the Enghsh market, as many 

 as 30,000 barrels having been sent across during the 

 present winter and sold at prices so low as to defy 

 all local competition, and in a state which led the 

 consumers to believe that they were eating ab.solutcly 

 newly caught fish. Before giving the extract from 

 the Professor's paper, I would express a hope that 

 its perusal may induce some euterprizing firms on 

 the West Coast of Madras to try the experiment of 

 sending fish, prepared with the "chemical powder," 

 by rail into the interior, where no doubt they would 

 find a ready market. There is apparently no reason 

 why stations all along the line, such as Goimbatore, 

 Salem, Trichinopoly and Bangalore, and even places 

 on the north-west line, should not be thus supplied 

 with some of the admirable species which at certain 

 seasons are so plentiful off the Malabar ports. I 

 am not in a position to discuss the commercial as- 

 pects of the proposal, but pfimd facie it seems likely 

 to be remunerative. At present the Madras Railway 

 carries fresh fish at reduced rates, and if the traffic 

 were increased it is probable that a further reduc- 

 tion would be made. It may be also anticipated 

 that with an increased demand more extensive and 

 skilled means of capture, and more speedy delivery 

 at the curing stations, would follow. In a European 

 climate the " chemical powder" is said to keep fresh 

 fish perfectly good for several weeks, and if in India 

 it would perform the same office for one week or 

 even three or four days, the gain to the country would 

 be very great. The preservative is a mixture of 

 common salt and boracic acid, and the latter can be 

 bought in England for less than six pence a pound. 

 The following are Professor Cossar Ewart's remarks 

 on the subject, including instructions as to the appli- 

 cation of the powder: — 



TUK T'KESt.KVATlON OF I'EKSH 1 ISH. 



The " chemical powder" used by the Norwegians 

 for presarviug berriug is a mixture of boracic acid 



and common salt. From our greatest authority in 

 antiseptics 1 have learnt that bonicic acid has been 

 in use in Norway for at least fourteen years 

 " for the preservation of articles of food, kc." Those 

 accjuaintcd with Norway can well understand how 

 necessary it is for tbe farmers and others who live 

 far removed from the town.s — by the margins of the 

 long winding fords, or on the slopes of the great 

 mountains — to provide themselves with various kinds 

 of ])ickling agents. It seems boracic acid, after a long 

 trial, has proved a most valuable preservative, chiefly 

 because it keeps fish and other food stuffs in a perfectly 

 fre.sh condition for several weeks, and, without being 

 hurtful, it often tends to improve the flavor. 



Recentlj', a mixture of boracic acid and salt has 

 been used with so great success for preserving 

 herring in a fresh condition that it is now possible 

 for Norwegian herring to compete successfully with 

 absolutely fresh herring in the English market. 

 Thousands of people in England have consumed 

 Norwegian herring a week or more after their capture, 

 believing they were fresh from Yarmouth or some 

 of the great Scottish fishing stations. I need not 

 say that herring rapidly become unfit for food when 

 taken out of the water. In summer they are often 

 useless twenty-four hours after they are captured, 

 and in winter the process of disintegration is not 

 long delayed. What is true of herring is to a great 

 extent true of other fish. Often in summer the fish 

 landed at Newhaveu (from fishing beats becalm_e<l 

 at sea) is all but putrid, aud were it thorougly in- 

 spected, as it doubtless should be. it would often be 

 at once comdemncd as uufit for food. It is, as 

 already pointed out, this extreme perishableiiess that 

 necessitates the rapid dispatch of fresh fish, and 

 affords an excuse for the high rates charged for 

 carriage. Hence the boracic acid will be welcomed 

 as a great boon if it preserves fish in a fresh con- 

 dition for several weeks. On learning some time 

 ago that the Norwegians were seudhig us herring 

 preserved in a chemical powder, I succeeded in 

 getting a sample and had it at once analyzed. After 

 an elaborate examination, Dr. Atkinson, Assistant tj 

 the Professor of Materia Medica in the ITniversity, • 

 reported that the substance submitted to him was 

 a very pure preparation of boracic acid. Mr. David 

 Murray, of Anstruther, who takes a keen and iiractical 

 interest in all question relating to the fish trade, 

 was good enough to pickle several samples of herring 

 according to the Norwegian plan. Some of^ these 

 samples I have examined with the most satisfactory 

 results. Herring pickled on the 19th January are as 

 fresh and sweet to-day as they were when introduced 

 into the mixture, and when cooked they can ssarcely 

 be distinguished from herring only a few hours 

 out of the water. I understand that eipially good 

 results have been obtained by Mr. M'C^ombie, of Peter- 

 head, with haddocks. 



Let us now indicate how the boracic acid should be 

 applied. For preserving herring, the best plan seems to bo. 

 to make a mixture of powdered boracic acid and fine salt, 

 taking two pounds of salt to every pound of boracic 

 acid. This mixture having been made, the fresh herrings 

 should be arranged in layers in a barrel, in exactly the 

 same way as cured herring are packed, and each 

 tier covered with a thin layer of the mixture. When 

 the barrel is full it should be tightened down in 

 the ordinary way, and then "pickled" ./ith a weak 

 solution of pure boracic acid. For treating a Imrrrl of 

 herrings in this manner, 2| lb. of acid aud 5 lb. of 

 salt are required for spreading on the tiers of heriiugs 

 during packing, and about 10 ounces of pure acid for 

 dissolving in the fresh water used for pickling. After 

 further experiments it may be found advisable to 

 alter somewhat the ))roi)orlions here given. The barrels 

 (vhcn packed should be kept in a cool place where 

 there is a nearly constant temperature. The expense 

 of pickling a barrel of herrings (a barrel holds from 

 800 to 1,000 herrings) ii\ this way need not be great, 

 for boracic acid can be purchased under 6d. per pound. 

 A barrel of herring, which cost oiiginally 8x., might 

 be preserved in boracic acid aud delivered in Loudon 

 for 14i. ; this is buppo&iug the pickliusj ty cost o*., 



