

Cr 
CANNING SARDINES 15 
FURTHER RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING EQUIPMENT 
The design and construction of such equipment as has been dis- 
cussed here, so that it will function in the desired manner, should 
offer no particular difficulty to drying and conveying enginee rs quali- 
fied for such work. It is very important, however, that they be 
competent, otherwise serious difficulties are certain to arise. The 
data needed by such engineers has already been given. To these 
must be added the amount of fish to be handled per “hour, the weight 
of fish to be handled per flake or per square foot of flake surface, and 
the space available for the outfit. 
The amount of fish that can be handled on a flake varies greatly 
with the size of the fish. The larger they are the greater the weight 
that can be placed on the flake. The amount of fish, “cut” or 
“round,” that can be handled per square foot of flake surface varies 
from about 0.8 to 2.4 pounds. The first weight applies to quarter-oil 
fish (8 to 10 per can) and the second to the largest oval-size fish (4 per 
can). For small to medium sized ‘ovals’ (6 to 10 per can) the 
weight is about 1.8 to 2 pounds. For the general run of ‘‘quarter- 
oils,” as they are flaked in Maine, the weight is about 1 pound. 
In the appendix (p. 219) specifications i in regard to operating con- 
ditions for handling either small or large fish are summarized in 
convenient form, ready for submission to ‘drying engineers. Reliable 
engineers will be ready to guarantee to fulfill these requirements. 
From these data approximate operating costs are determined. These 
calculations indicate how the experimental data are applied and give 
an idea of the approximate size of the unit. 
Equipment should be designed so as to permit considerable varia- 
tion in the operating conditions. This is especially important in the - 
first units of a new line of equipment. The specifications referred 
to were made with this idea in mind. 
PRODUCTION AND EQUIPMENT COSTS FOR PREPARING CALIFORNIA POUND-OVAL FISH 
Approximate estimates of production and equipment costs for 
handling 5 tons of pound-oval fish per hour are given below and com- 
pared with estimates for preparing the fish “by the frying-in-oil 
process. The experimental equipment was not large enough, nor 
was it constructed in such a way as to enable production costs to be 
obtained from actual operations, nor has a large enough unit yet been 
built from which data upon these costs, as well as those for the equip- 
ment, can be obtained. The equipment and production costs con- 
sidered are only those having to do with handling the fish after they 
are brined and until they are given to the packers to put into cans; 
other costs should be the same as they are now. 
Fuel.—F¥or a properly constructed plant the fuel oil required per 
case should not be greater than 0.5 gallon. The cost, then, when oil 
is $1.50 per barrel of 42 gallons, is 1.8 cents per case.“ The actual 
amount of fuel used in preparing fish by the frying process is not 
available. Canners do not keep separate fuel costs for the various 
uses to which steam is put in their plants. The calculations indicate, 
however, that at least 77 per cent as much fuel is required for pre- 
paring the fish by the frying-in-oil process as by the new one. The 


6 Calculations given on pp. 219-221, 
