PACIFIC SALMON FISHERIES. 133 
of the product that he abandoned further efforts in this line. A few 
cohos are put up each year. 
The principal consumers of the mild-cured salmon are the smokers, 
who take them from the tierce, wash and soak them for a few 
minutes, and then have a practically fresh fish to smoke, and not, 
as in the days when hard-pickled salmon were used, one that had Jost 
most of its oil and flavor through the excessive amount of salt needed 
to preserve it. 
‘he greater part of the product put up on this coast goes to 
Europe, Germany being the principal consumer, but considerable 
uantities are sold in Norway, Sweden, and other countries, while 
the smokers of the cities east of the Rocky Mountains use large 
quantities every year. 
In Germany, the principal market for mild-cured salmon, nearly 
all of the fish are smoked. One of the most popular ways of using 
the smoked salmon is in the making of sandwiches, and probably 
the greater portion of these are used in the beer halls and the auto- 
matic restaurants in that country. 
PICKLING, 
The earliest method of preserving salmon on the coast was by 
pickling. At times this industry attained to large proportions, but 
during the last 10 years it has been declining, largely because the 
canners are able to pay more for the raw fish than the salters. All 
species of salmon are pickled , but the most popular is the red salmon. 
In dressing salmon for pickling the hand: is removed, the fish 
split along the back, the cut ending with a downward curve on the 
tail. The viscera and two-thirds of the backbone are removed, and 
the blood, gurry, and black stomach membrane scraped away. The 
fish are then thoroughly scrubbed and washed in cold water. They 
are next placed in pickling butts with about 15 pounds of half-ground 
salt to every 100 pounds of fish. The fish should be laid in a tier, 
flesh side up, and the salt well sprinkled over it, repeating until the 
tank is full. Several boards are then laid across the fish and these 
are weighted down with large stones in order to keep the fish sub- 
merged in the pickle which will form. The fish remain here about 
one week, the brine being held at about 90°. They are then removed, 
rubbed clean with a scrub brush, and repacked in market barrels, 
one sack of salt being used to every three barrels of 200 pounds each. 
About 40 to 52 red salmon, 25 to 35 coho salmon, 70 to 80 humpback 
salmon, 10 to 14 king salmon, and 25 to 30 dog salmon are required 
in packing a barrel of pickled salmon. 
few salteries also pack ‘‘bellies.” This product is merely the 
belly of the fish, which is the fattest portion, and as most of the 
packers threw away the rest of the fish, thus causing a very large 
waste of choice food, this method has come under the ban of the law 
in some of the coast States and in Alaska. As a result, but few 
““bellies”’ are packed now, and most of these only when some economic 
use is made of the remainder. Humpback salmon furnish the major 
part of the ‘‘belly”’ pack. 
In preparing salmon bellies, the operator first cuts off the two 
pectoral fins, and them removes the head, care being taken to follow 
the curve of the body until the backbone is reached, which should 
