FISHING STATIONS— ENGLAND. 255 



particular capacity. Pads and half-pads were once 

 recognized measures, and are still spoken of in some 

 of the markets, although the quantity of fish contained 

 in them is rather uncertain. Ten 3'ears ago they were 

 the only packages used by the Hull and Grimsby 

 trawlers. The "pad" consisted of three "pots," and 

 the "half-pad" of two pots of fish. This division of a 

 package into three or two imaginary parts called 

 "pots" was for the convenience of the salesmen and 

 buyers; for instance, if two pads and three half-pads 

 were to be sold, they were offered as twelve pots ; fisli 

 was said to be worth so much per pot one day, and 

 so much another day. This measurement was also 

 found very convenient by the fishermen, as in case 

 they had not enough prime fish at the end of their 

 packing to fill a lialf-pad, they still put it into a half- 

 pad basket and called it a pot. At one time pot baskets 

 were used, but they have been long given up. Formerly 

 speculative dealers used to bargain with some of the 

 fishermen to take all their prime fish at so much per 

 pot, and then a pot was to weigh 40 lbs. ; but a half- 

 pad (two pots) subsequently came to weigh from 80 lbs. 

 to 120 lbs., the difference being caused by the fish 

 being more or less piled up on the top of the basket. 

 A further change was made by the introduction of 

 wooden boxes called " trunks," and they were used espe- 

 cially for the package of soles, a trunk or box of soles 

 usually containing sixty to seventy pairs, weighing about 

 100 lbs. Plaice and haddocks are also packed in them, 

 about forty of the latter, when sold for the fresh market, 

 going to the "box." Haddocks for smoking are sold 

 by measure, the contents of a small barrel representing 

 a certain weight of fish. We have before mentioned, 

 when speaking of trawling, the difficulty there used 



