THE PRINCIPLES OF FISH SALTING 371 



which is usually packed either in glass jars or in cartons with parchment paper. 

 The cod skin is sold to fish glue manufacturers and brings an excellent price. Al- 

 though the bones and yellow trimmings are also used in the manufacture of 

 glue, they yield a smaller quantity of lower grade glue and hence are not as 

 valuable (p. 525). 



The better grades of salt cod are known as "boneless" and "not-a-bone." The 

 former contains some of the smaller bones ( the small pieces of the fins and ribs ) , 

 but the latter has no bones at all. It is the practice of nearly all packers of salted 

 cod to sprinkle the fish as it is packed with some fine salt containing 0.4 per cent of 

 boric acid. This aids in the prevention of reddening. But even such preserved 

 fish must be stored at low temperatures if they are to be kept for extended periods. 

 Most packers place their product in cold storage until desired for shipment. 



Hard -Dried Cod. Cod prepared especially for export trade is usually hard-dried. 

 This grade of fish is salted in butts in the usual way. After salting, the fish are 

 freshened somewhat by soaking in sea water, the amount of freshening depending 

 upon the particular class of trade for which they are intended. After freshening, 

 the fish are kenched as usual and then placed on flakes where they are left for 

 a much longer time and become much harder than the regular salted cod. When 

 these fish are removed from the flakes, they are placed in driers which may be 

 large racks with chicken-wire shelves and large casters. These are run into large 

 narrow rooms through which warm air is blown with a powerful fan. The tempera- 

 ture of the incoming air is kept above 70° F (21.1° C); if the weather is cool, 

 the air is sucked through a steam radiator. The length of time which the fish 

 remain in the drier depends on their size, on the temperature, humidity, and 

 velocity of the air, and on the amount of moisture in the fish. No determination of 

 the moisture content of the dried fish is made. From time to time they are ex- 

 amined; if they "ring" when clapped together, they are considered sufficiently 

 dry. Hard-dried cod are sprinkled with fine salt, containing some boric acid, and 

 packed in boxes or drums for export. Drums of regular size contain 50, 100, 200, 

 300, and 448 pounds of fish. When placed in drums several layers of fish are 

 carefully arranged in circular fashion, with the flesh side up, and then a layer is 

 placed with the backs up. The cod are well tamped with a heavy wooden tamper. 

 Other layers are packed and the tamping is repeated. They are packed several 

 inches above the top of the drum; a ratchet or hydraulic press is used to press 

 them down so that the head can be put in place. Comparatively limited quantities 

 of this grade of fish are used by the domestic trade. 



Slack-Salted Cod and Pollock. Fish intended for this grade are usually eviscer- 

 ated, beheaded, and cleaned on the schooner soon after being caught. They are 

 then lightly salted and piled in kenches in the schooner. When landed at the 

 wharf, they are usually freshened slightly in sea water and then kenched for a 

 short time. They are then dried on the flakes. Slack-salted cod and pollock are 

 sold chiefly in New England. 



Haddock, Hake, Pollock, and Cask. These fish are often caught with cod and 

 other fish in the otter-trawl nets. They are landed at the same wharves, handled 

 in the same manner, and are usually sorted as to size and species just previous 

 to weighing. The method of curing haddock is identical with that for cod, which 

 has been described. Hake, pollock, and cusk are salted in nearly the same manner; 

 as their average size is much larger, their heads are chopped off. More of the back- 



