516 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



METHODS OF PREPARING SALMON 



CANNING 

 EARLY DAYS OF THE INDUSTRY 



In the salmon industry canning is and has been almost from the 

 time of the discovery of a feasible method of so preserving the fish, 

 the principal branch. The first canning of salmon on the Pacific 

 coast was on the Sacramento River in 1864, when G. W. and William 

 Hume and Andrew S. Hapgood, operating under the firm name of 

 Hapgood, Hume & Co., started the work on a scow at Wasliington, 

 Yolo CountA^ Cahf. The Hume brothers, who came from Maine 

 originaUy, had been fishing for salmon in the Sacramento River for 

 some years before the idea of canning the fish had entered their 

 minds, while Mr. Hapgood had previously been engaged in canning 

 lobsters in Maine, and was induced by the Humes to participate iti 

 order that they might have the benefit of liis knowledge of canning 

 methods. The late R. D. Hume, who worked in the original cannery 

 and later became one of the best-know*n canners on the coast, thus 

 describes the plant and the methods employed : ^" 



Before the arrival of Mr. Hapgood (from Maine) tlie Hume brothers had 

 purchased a large scow, on which they proposed to do the canning of sahnon, 

 and had added an extension to the cabin 18 by 24 feet in area, to be used as a 

 can-making sliop. This had a shed on the side next to the river for holding any 

 cans tliat might be made in advance of the paciving season. A few days after 

 tlie arrival of Mr. Hapgood (March 23, 1864), the tools and machinery were 

 packed and put in jiosition. Mr. Hapgood made some stovepipe and two or 

 three sheet-iron fire pots, and in a short time was ready for can making. The 

 following list of tools and machinery wiU show how primitive our facilities were 

 as comjjared with present methods: 1 screw hand press, 1 set cast-iron top 

 dies, 1 set cast-iron bottom dies, 1 pair squaring shears, 1 pair rotary shears, 

 1 pair bench shears, 1 pair hand shears or snips, 1 pair 24-inch rolls, 1 anvil 

 (weight 50 pounds), 1 forging hammer, 1 tinner's hammer, 1 set i)unches for 

 making stovepipe, 1 rivet set, 1 grooving set, 2 iron slabs grooved on one side 

 to mold strips of solder, 1 iron clamp to liold bodies of cans while soldering the 

 seams, 1 triangular piece of cast iron about three-eighths of an inch in thickness 

 and 6 inches in length, with a wooden handle attached to the apex, also used for 

 liolding can bodies in place while being seamed. 



The process of canning was as follows: The bodies of the cans were first cut 

 to proper size by the squaring shears, a line was then scribed with a gauge about 

 three-sixteenths of an inch from one edge, and they were next formed into 

 cylindrical sha])e by the rolls. They were then taken to the soldering bench 

 and one edge lapped by the other until the edge met the line that had been 

 scribed and fastened there by being soldered a small part of the length to hold 

 them in place for the further purpose of seaming. They were then placed either 

 in the iron clamp, which had a piece of wood attached to its underside, and 

 held firmly, the clamp being closed by the operation of a treadle, or were slipped 

 on a piece of wood, which was bolted to the bench, while being held in place by 

 the triangular hand seamer, which was pressed down on the lap of the seam 

 by tlie left hand of the operator. When this had been done a piece of solder, 

 which had been prepared by shaking in a can together with rosin, was placed 

 on the seam and melted and rubbed lengthwise of the seam. After cooling the 

 bodies were ready for the end or bottom, which operation was brought about 

 by first cutting out circular blanks with the rotary shears, and then placing them 

 in the cast-iron die and bringing the handle of the screw press around with a 

 swing with force enough to form up the end or bottom. In this operation there 

 were many difficulties, as the ends or bottoms would many times stick to the 

 upper part of the die and refuse to come off, and finger nails were pretty short 

 in those days. To get the ends out of the lower part of the die was not so bad, 



" The First Salmon Cannery. By R. D. Hume, Pacific Fisherman, Vol. II, No. 1, January, 1904, pp. 

 19-21. 



