MILD CUEING OF SALMON IN CALIFORNIA 11 



GRADING ON THE COLUMBIA 



Columbia River mild-cured salmon is most highly regarded by 

 the trade and sells for more than the Puget Sound and most Cali- 

 fornia cured salmon. This difference is not in the quality of the 

 fresh salmon so much as in the curing methods and careful grading. 

 Discovering that a tierce of salmon sold for a price determined by 

 its poorest "sides," on the principle of a chain being as strong as 

 its weakest link, the Columbia River packers have found that care- 

 fully gt-ading out the best sides brings an added fancy price, and a 

 poor side slipped into a grade above its proper place works injury 

 to their trade. 



Unlike the California method, the Columbia River packers grade 

 twice. Usually three chilling tanks are used, being placed end on 

 to the sliming tank (or table) for economy in space. The sides are 

 thus given their first rough grading into large, medium, and small 

 in the three chilling tanks, which is an advantage in salting and 

 curing (since different sizes cure unequally) and also saves much 

 labor in repacking. At the repack there is a careful second grad- 

 ing into from 6 to 10 grades, the chief grades being determined by 

 the number of sides necessary to fill the standard 800-pound tierce, 

 and are expressed as grades 50, 60, 70, 80, or 90 (sides per tierce). 

 As most of the fish are large (seldom less than 10 pounds to a side) 

 there are few medium or small sides, but mostly large and extra 

 large. Slightly broken sides are graded as " B " of that size and 

 are not thrown into one grade or included with the culls. The 

 resulting pack is uniform, the sides of one grade varying in weight 

 but little, and no prime fish are pulled down by being classed with 

 inferior sides. 



GRADING IN CALIFORNIA 



California packers usually recognize but three or four grades, 

 with a catchall grade of " B " and culls. The " B " grades of each 

 size class are frequently thrown together and separated from the 

 culls or worst sides. The cull grade is loosely defined and may in- 

 clude pale, gaffed, burned, broken, small, thin, and poor quality. 

 More frequently the slightly injured sides are called " B " grade or 

 No. 2 and are distinguished from the badly injured sides or culls. 

 The result of lumping the " B' s " or No. 2's together is that some 

 good sides go for a poorer price than they deserve and many sides 

 that should be graded " B " go as "A" and thus lower the standard 

 of the prime sides. For instance, a collar-broken large side may be 

 only slightly injured. If called " B " it goes in with a barrel of 

 small, thin-bellied, gaffed, and inferior fish. It is therefore often 

 squeezed in with the prime grade. It would improve the pack to 

 grade more closely and with more primary grades and an "A" and 

 "■ B " grade of each size class where the pack is large enough to have 

 a tierce of " B's " of each size. However, improvements in the pack 

 are not likely to be developed while the demand for mild cure is as 

 strong as at present. 



In California there is seldom a preliminary grading, the sides 

 being cured as they come without regard to size, so that a tierce may 

 contain all grades and culls mixed together. The sradin": and count- 



