136 PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES. 
the Trescott Packing Co. and S. Schmidt & Sons putting up plants at 
Warrenton and Astoria, respectively. 
In 1900 the Trescott Packing Co. began packing the spring and fall 
runs, and the Sacramento River Packers’ Association packed the fall 
run on the Sacramento River, the business being carried on here every 
year since. 
In 1901 the Sacramento River Packers’ Association began at Monte- 
rey the mild curing of the spring salmon that were taken with hook 
and line in the open ocean. 
S. Elmore & Co. started the industry in 1902 at Tillamook, and the 
business began on Puget Sound in 1901, when the San Juan Fishing & 
Packing Co. and the Seattle Fish Co. took it up. The Pacific Cold 
Storage Co. began the next year at Anacortes. 
Prior to 1906 several of the Alaska cannery men put up each season 
a few tierces of mild-cured salmon, but it was not until this time that 
the industry really began assuch. In that year J. Lindenberger (Inc.) 
started packing at Ketchikan, Alaska. The following year several 
other plants were started, and in 1910 almost all of the king salmon 
taken in southeast Alaska were mild cured. 
In mild curing the fish are split down the middle, the head, tail, and 
all fins except the pectorals removed, and the backbone cut out. 
The fish is then in two halves. Each of these halves, or sections, is 
then scored on the outside eight or nine times with the knife. They 
are then thrown into a cleaning vat, and here the inner side of each 
section is carefully scraped clear of blood and membrane with a 
knife, while the outside is thoroughly cleaned with a scrubbing 
brush. The sections are then laid carefully inner side up in another 
vat partly filled with clear, cold, running water, or into a tierce 
partly filled with fresh water and cracked ice, in which they remain 
for an hour. Formerly the fish were put into brine, but it has been 
found that ice water answers the purpose much better. After being 
thoroughly cooled, the sections are salted down in the tierces, each 
one being laid with its tail toward the center. Usually about 50 
whole fish are required to fill a tierce. The pickle is made to a 
strength of 90° and should be strained before putting in the tierces. | 
The tierces are then put in a cold storage chamber with a tempera- 
ture of 35 to 38° F. They are held here from 14 to 21 days, care 
being taken to keep them full of pickle, which can be added through | 
the hole in the head. The fish shrinks about 30 per cent during 
curing. After curing fish are taken from the tierces, the salt and 
slime are carefully removed and the fish repacked in the tierces 
without salt. When full of fish ice cold pickle with strength of 90° 
is added, the tierces tested to see if they are air-tight, and then taken 
back to the cold storage to await shipment. : 
