116 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
the outer ends. They are mounted on an axle having a large iron 
lever at one end, and when this lever is raised the ends of the gang 
knives are thrown up and back. The fish is then placed in position 
under them and the lever pulled forward, the knives, with a scimitar- 
like movement, dividing the fish. 
The original method of cutting was by means of a long knife 
wielded by a Chinaman who stood at a regular butcher’s block. 
Although his strokes were incredibly quick, the rotary cutting 
machine is a vast improvement over the old way. 
SALTING. 
Every can of salmon is seasoned with one-fourth of an ounce of 
salt, which, to insure uniformity, is added by mechanical means. A 
table is used, in the top of which are holes equal distances apart. 
On the underside of the top is a sheet-iron plate, with an equal 
number of holes, which slides in a groove at the sides, and is worked 
either by a hand or foot lever. Just below is an open space large 
enough to accommodate a tray holding 36 or 48 cans. A workman 
stands in front of the table and slides a tray of cans into the open 
space. He then throws a quantity of salt upon the table and im- 
mediately scrapes this off with a thin piece of wood, each hole being 
filled in the operation, and the salt being prevented from falling 
through by the iron plate underneath. The lever is then pressed, the 
iron plate moves forward until the holes in it are directly under the 
holes in the table top, when the salt drops through into the cans. 
This operation can be repeated four or five times in a minute. Most 
canneries now use a small salter attached to the fillmg machine and 
this deposits the required amount in the can as it is passing by on 
its way to be filled. 
FILLING THE CANS. 
Most canneries now use filling machines for all sizes of cans, al- 
though a few, more particularly those packing flat and odd-sized 
cans, still fill by hand. 
The filling machine consists of a chute with a belt to which are 
attached wire racks about 4 inches apart, set at an angle to prevent 
the salt from spilling out, into which the salted cans are fed from the 
floor above and pass into the machine. At the same time the divided 
sections of salmon. pass down another chute into the mouth of what 
looks like a hand coffee mill. They pass through here down a smaller 
chute and are forced by two dogs into a receptacle through which 
the plunger, or filler, passes. Here the plunger comes opposite the 
open mouth of the empty can, which when it reaches this point is 
caught by a clasp or hook and held in front of the plunger, which is 
immediately thrust forward through a chamber filled with salmon, 
cutting the fish longitudinally and at the same time filling the can. 
The next movement forces the can out upon a table. When running 
at full speed, one of these machines will fill about 80 cans a minute. 
On being released by the clamp and rolling upon the table they 
are righted by a workman and pushed onto an endless belt, upon 
which they pass into the weighing machine. _ If of the proper weight, 
they pass through this machine, but if below the required weight 
the cans are shunted to one side, where workers add the quantity of 
fish needed, a supply of small bits being kept at hand for this pur- 
