116 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



the outer ends. They are mounted on an axle having a large iron 

 lever at one end, and \vhen this lever is raised the ends of the gang 

 knives are thrown up and back. The fish is then placed in position 

 under them and the lever pulled forward, the knives, with a scimitar- 

 like movement, dividing the fish. 



The original method of cutting was by means of a long knife 

 wielded by a Chinaman who stood at a regular butcher's block. 

 Although his strokes were incredibly quick, the rotary cutting 

 machine is a vast improvement over the old way. • 



SALTING. 



Every can of salmon is seasoned with one-fourth of an ounce of 

 salt, which, to insure uniformity, is added by mechanical means. A 

 table is used, in the top of which are holes equal distances apart. 

 On the underside of the top is a sheet-iron plate, with an equal 

 number of holes, which slides in a groove at the sides, and is worked 

 either by a hand or foot lever. Just below is an open space large 

 enough to accommodate a tray holding 36 or 48 cans. A workman 

 stands in front of the table and slides a tray of cans into the open 

 space. He then throws a quantity of salt upon the table and im- 

 mediately scrapes this off with a thin piece of wood, each hole being 

 filled in the operation, and the salt being prevented from falling 

 through by the iron plate underneath. The lever is then pressed, the 

 iron plate moves forward until the holes in it are directly under the 

 holes in the table top, when the salt drops through into the cans. 

 This operation can be repeated four or five times in a minute. Most 

 canneries now use a small Salter attached to the filling machine and 

 this deposits the required amount in the can as it is passing by on 

 its way to be filled. 



FILLING THE CANS. 



Most canneries now use filling machines for all sizes of cans, al- 

 though a few, more particularly those packing flat and odd-sized 

 cans, still fill by hand. 



The filling machine consists of a chute with a belt to which are 

 attached wire racks about 4 inches apart, set at an angle to prevent 

 the salt from spilling out, into which the salted cans are fed from the 

 floor above and pass into the machine. At the same time tlie divided 

 sections of salmon pass down another chute into the mouth of what 

 looks like a hand coffee miU. They pass through here down a smaller 

 chute and are forced by two dogs into a receptacle through which 

 the plunger, or filler, passes. Here the plunger comes opposite the 

 open mouth of the empty can, which when it reaches this point is 

 caught by a clasp or hook and held in front of the plunger, which is 

 immediately thrust forward through a chamber filled with salmon, 

 cutting the fish longitudinally and at the same time filling the can. 

 The next movement forces the can out upon a table. Wlien running 

 at full speed, one of these machines wiU fill about 80 cans a minute. 



On being released by the clamp and rolling upon the table they 

 are righted by a workman and pushed onto an endless belt, upon 

 which they pass into the weighing machine. If of the proper weight, 

 they pass through this macnine, but if below the required weight 

 the cans are shunted to one side, where workers add the quantity of 

 fish needed, a supply of small bits being kept at hand for this pur- 



