PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES 535 



the side of the tierce. Other sides of fish are packed from the sides 

 toward the center of the tierce, napes and tails alternately, the hack 

 of each side being drawn halfway up and resting on the side already 

 laid. When complete, the layer should be perfectly level, and this 

 depends a good deal on how the last or center piece is laid. Salt is 

 sprinkled between each layer in the manner and quantity noted above 

 and the process continued until the tierce is full. The tiers should 

 be crossed in packing. The top layer should be placed with the 

 skin up and have extra salt put on. From 85 to 100 pounds of salt 

 are used to 800 pounds of fish. 



The tierce is then headed up, after which pickle is poured in until 

 the tierce is quite full. This pickle may be made with the same 

 salt as is used for rousing and sprinkling the fish. Perfectly clear 

 water should be provided and broken ice should be added in hberal 

 quantities, if the weather is warm. Before using, the pickle should 

 be strained through a fine sieve or a clean cloth, to remove froth 

 and sediment. A centigrade saltmeter is used by most mild curers. 

 The pickle is made to a strength of at least 90°, but it usually weakens 

 to about 70° during the first 10 days of cure, whereas after repacking 

 it should not readily come below 85°, and it should retain that 

 strength for a long time. 



When tierces have been filled wdth pickle they are rolled inside a 

 cold-storage room, with a temperature of 35 to 38° F., where they 

 may be tiered two tiers high. Very little variation in the temperature 

 is allowable, as it would start the oil or fat in the flesh, allowing 

 it to escape into the brine. 



Unless the tierces are kept quite full of pickle the sides of fish 

 are apt to be broken when the cask is rolled about. The tierces 

 must be examined frequently to see that they are full of brine, as 

 there are always small leaks, while the staves absorb more or less 

 moisture. Furthermore, if the tierces were allowed to leak, ugly 

 yellow spots would show on the parts of the fish that were left dry. 

 Thus it is of the utmost importance, both during the two or three 

 weeks allowed for pining and also after repacking, to see that they 

 are kept full of pickle. Several gallons of pickle may be absorbed 

 by each cask during the first two or three weeks of cure. 



The actual shrinkage during the two or three weeks in which the 

 fish lie in the first packing may be reckoned at 30 per cent. Fat, 

 well-conditioned fish, especially those which are caught in the ocean, 

 shrink less, but poor fish, especially those caught when w^ell on their 

 way to the spawning grounds, shrink more — sometimes up to 35 

 per cent. 



After holding the fish in storage for at least 20 and not more 

 than 90 days they are taken out of the tierces. Each side of fish 

 should be Ufted out carefully, as described above, and sponged with 

 a large sponge until all salt and slime are entirely removed, leaving 

 only a clean, red side of fish. Either pure ice water or ice pickle 

 may be used for this washing, but it will depend entirely on the 

 quality and condition of the fish. Soft, poor fish would require 

 pickle, but good firm fish may be washed in clean ice water. 



The sides are then weighed and graded accordingly, 6 to 8 pounds, 

 8 to 10 pounds, and so on, being the grades. Sides of 11 pounds 

 and over are called large fish, and "L" is marked on the side of the 



112992°— 30 9 



