112 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



the feeding value of these meals has not been tested as j^et, and that 

 until such experimental feeding tests are conducted to determine 

 their feeding value, the Bureau of Fisheries does not recommend 

 them for such purposes. 



However, experts and animal husbandrymen of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture, after carefully observing the chemical 

 analyses of these experimental meals as listed in the tables contained 

 in this publication, and after observing samples of the experimental 

 meals, are of the opinion that they offer promising possibilities in 

 tjnimal feeding and recommend that feeding experiments be con- 

 ducted to determine their suitability in animal nutrition. 



PREPARATION OF EXPERIMENTAL MEALS HIGH IN SALT 



CONTENT 



BRINE-COOK METHOD | 



Collection of the waste. — The shrimp waste available from the 

 heading and picking tables is collected into wire baskets made on 

 2-pole supports or with standards that will support the baskets in the 

 cooking vats. The baskets should be made with heavy galvanized 

 stock with about 4 to 9 meshes per square inch. The shape of the 

 baskets depends upon the shape of the cooking vessel. The size of 

 the baskets is also influenced by the size of the cookers, allowing suf- 

 ficient extra space in the cookers to permit natural agitation of the 

 brine-suspended waste. The waste weighs approximately 40 pounds 

 per bushel. It is necessary to use shovels in handling the heads since 

 the spiny ends of the shrimp cause great pain if they become lodged 

 in the skin. This procedure for the collection of the waste was 

 followed in all the methods discussed for its utilization. 



Cooking. — The shrimp waste collecting baskets also serve as dip 

 baskets in the cooker. The vat is filled sufficiently full to prevent 

 •• boiling over " when the baskets are suspended in the brine. To the 

 water is added salt varying from 2 per cent to 12 per cent of the 

 weight of the stock; with higher concentration of the brine, more 

 salt is retained in the cooked heads. Such material is more stable 

 toward spoilage than the nonsaline cooked heads. The exhaustion 

 of the salt in the cooker is not rapid, but additional salt should be 

 added from time to time to maintain the proper saline concentration, 

 After suspending the baskets in the brine, the solution is brought to 

 a boil and allowed to boil actively for 10 minutes. Longer time does 

 not harm and has no beneficial results if the shrimp waste is handled 

 properly. After cooking it is removed from the cookers by lifting 

 out the baskets. 



Drying. — The cooked waste is removed to a drying shed or cool- 

 ing platform and spread out in a layer of not over 3 inches in thick- 

 ness; if the supply is small the spreading can be made much thinner. 

 The heated waste cools, and a sufficient amount of water evaporates 

 oft' to bring the moisture concentration to below 60 per cent in a 

 few hours. In this condition the waste is semipreserved and can 

 await handling in the drier until the next day. If the weather is 

 very dry and the cooking is done early enough in the day to get 

 the* benefits of the midday's sun, with active turnover, the moisture 

 content can be reduced to about 20 per cent on the same day. Waste 

 holding this amount of water is a stable product, but the high mois- 



