THE SALTING OF FISH. 35 



EFFECT OF FINENESS OF SALT. 



The writer considered the fineness of salt as of little importance, 

 save in a physical way. Inasmuch as his time was limited, he con- 

 ducted no experiments to determine the optimum degree of fineness 

 of salt for use in fish salting. This factor is entirely eliminated 

 when fish are salted by the brine method. When small fish are salted 

 with dry salt, care must be taken not to use too coarse a salt, such as 

 Turks Island. When such a coarse salt is used, great difficulty will 

 be encountei^d in obtaining a uniform distribution of the salt 

 throughout the barrel or butt of fish. Nearly all of the salt used will 

 be on the outside of the fish. If, however, fine salt be used, a con- 

 siderable portion of the salt will be inside the abdominal cavity. 

 This abdominal cavity usually is quite moist ; so almost immediately 

 a strong pickle will be formed which will begin to penetrate the fish. 

 Fine salt certainly has the advantage of being easier to distribute 

 evenly throughout a container of fish i-egardless of the size of the 

 fish. However, in the case of cod and other large fish fine salt gives 

 the fish a somewhat different api)earance. In such cases, when the 

 weather is cold, appearance should be the first consideration. If 

 such large fish are salted in warm, southern climates, less considera- 

 tion can be given to the appearance of the product. In such cli- 

 mates the first considerations must l)e the composition of the salt and 

 its uniform distribution throughout the container of fish. 



SUMMARY. 



Calcium and magnesium salts and various sulphates cause a re- 

 tardation of the penetration of salt into fish. These salts also cause 

 a less perfect preservation of the fish during salting. This was 

 shown by increased amounts of amino acids formed during the salt- 

 ing period. Calcium is most powerful in this regard. Mao^nesium 

 salts cause a considerable increase in the rate of decomposition dur- 

 ing salting, other conditions being the same. But this effect is not 

 nearly so great as that caused by calcium salts. Sulphates do not 

 cause an appreciable increase in the rate of decomposition at the 

 concentiations at which they are present in salt. The fish Salter 

 working under advei-se conditions in warm climates should use care 

 in the selection of his salts and choose salts that are low in calcium 

 and magnesium. 



II. A COMPARISON OF EFFICIENCY OF BRINE AND DRY SALT FOR 



SALTING FISH. 



INTRODUCnOX. 



At present fish are salted cither by the use of dry salt or brine 

 and salt. Before improvements in either method could be suggested 

 it was considered essential to know the relative merits of the two 

 methods at various temperatures. The work presented in this sec- 

 tion of this paper was undertaken, therefore, with that aim in view. 



The dry-salt method in\'»)lves the packing of fish with salt in a 

 water-tight container. The water and body juices of tlie fish dis- 

 solves sufficient salt to make enough "pickle" to cover the fish. A 

 sTiiall pile of salt is usually placed on top of the container to press 



