626 



U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



Barrels usually are iced in the same way as boxes. Sometimes a 

 " cone " of ice is used ; that is, a long columnar chunk in the center 

 of the barrel, surrounded by the fish. This method is especially suit- 

 able for eels. Sometimes a barrel is packed with fish and a large 

 chunk of ice put on them at the top, but this is undoubtedly poor 

 practice. For a head it is general practice to cover the barrel with 

 a piece of burlap, which is held on by a hoop, which is nailed. 



ICE CAKES FED HERE 



BROKEN ICE DELIVERED HERE 



Fig. 49. — Arrangement of ice breaker driven by gasoline engine. 

 Courtesy, Cochrane Corporation. 



COMPARISON OF BOXES AND BARRELS AS CONTAINERS FOR ICED FISH 



L. H. Almy, of the United States Bureau of Chemistry, and his 

 coworkers have made several studies of shipments of fish on ice in 

 in boxes and barrels. 94 They found a considerably greater shrinkage 

 of fish in barrels than in boxes, as shown by Table 26, representing 

 conditions in a carload of fish en route from Jacksonville, Fla., to 

 New York. 



Table 26. — Shrinkage of fish in transit by freight, Jacksonville to New York 



Container 



Box... 



Do 

 Barrel . 



Do 



Layer of fish 

 examined 



/Top.... 

 \Bottom 

 /Top.... 

 \Bottom 

 /Top.... 

 \Bottom 

 /Top.... 

 \Bottom 



Net weight of fish, 

 pounds 



Before 

 shipment 



40 

 40 

 38 

 43 

 so 

 130 

 108 

 101 



After 

 shipment 



38 

 41 

 33 

 47 

 74 

 1 22 

 106 

 91 



Change in weight 



Pounds 



By layers 



+1 

 -5 

 +4 



-2 

 -10 



Total in 

 package 



-1 

 ..... 



'-14 



-12 



Percentage 



While these figures are not borne out by all their experiments, it 

 is indicated clearly that shrinkage is greater in barrels than in 



94 L. H. Almy, H. R. Hill, and E. Field, "The shrinkage of fish in boxes and barrels." 

 Fishing Gazette (New York), Vol. XXXIX, September, 1922, pp. 29-30. L. H. Almy 

 and H. R. Hill, " Transportation of fish in boxes and barrels." Fishing Gazette, April. 

 1923. Li. H. Alnry, E. Field, and H. R. Hill, " A study of the preservation of fish in 

 ice." The American Food Journal, Vol. XVIII, January, 1923, 36-38. 



