8 THE SALTING OF FISH. 



if they were not covered "with pickle during the " striking " or salting 

 process. The fish are tlirown " face up " (cut surface, flesh side up) 

 into the butts and sprinkled with salt as they are thrown in. Great 

 stress is placed upon the even distribution of the salt. Between 6 

 and 7 bushels are used to each butt of fish. Turks Island salt is 

 ordinarily used. Each butt yields approximately 500 pounds of dried 

 cod. The rule holds : The warmer the weather the more salt used. 



The fish are piled high above the top of the butt. The last few 

 layers, those exposed, are piled with the backs up. A pile of salt is 

 placed upon the top of the fish. By the day following the salting, 

 the fish have settled below the top of the butt and the pile of salt 

 has almost disappeared. Five or six more pecks of salt are then 

 added to strengthen the pickle. Ordinarily the fish are allowed to 

 remain in the butts from 10 days to 3 weeks. Only 3 days are re- 

 quired for the salt to penetrate through the fish, the remainder of the 

 time being required for the fish to " strike through," or harden. 

 After 3 days the flesh of the fish is still quite soft, but during the 

 next 18 daj's it gradually becomes harder. If there is a large supply 

 of fish on hand and if the demand is slack the fish are left in the butt 

 much longer than 3 weeks. However, if allowed to remain there 

 for too long a time the salted fish become yellow. This happens in 

 the space of 2 months or less in hot weather, but in cold weather 

 the fish may be left in the butts almost indefinitely. The amount of 

 salt added (6 or 7 bushels) is far in excess of the amount actually 

 taken up by the fish and dissolved in the pickle. This excess salt is 

 used later in making more pickle. 



After the fish are "struck" thej^ are taken out of the butts, the 

 slime is washed off, and the fish are piled in kenches about 4 feet 

 high, face up, with the exception of the last few layers, which are 

 piled face down in order to keep the top layers clean (free from 

 dust). Weights are placed on top of the kenches to compress the 

 fish and to squeeze out the pickle. Since the object of the kenching 

 is to allow the fish to drain and partially dry, they are piled on racks 

 about 8 inches above the floor. This enables the pickle to run out 

 from under the piles of fish. The length of time during which the fish 

 are left in the kenches depends mainly upon the weather and upon the 

 amount of fish already upon the flakes. (See below.) During warm 

 weather the fish are likely to spoil, so they are watched very closely 

 and are replied whenever there is danger of spoilage. The more 

 often the fish are replied the less time they must remain on the flakes ; 

 but the fish salters usually do not repile them more than once, since 

 it requires a great deal of time. However, if the season is a rainy one, 

 and they do not dry rapidly upon the flakes, the fish are rekenched 

 several times. 



After the fish are somewhat dry they are placed upon flakes for 

 further drying, A flake is a rack (a lattice bed about 8 feet wide) 

 built in the open, about 30 inches above a floor. The drying yard is 

 known as the flake yard and is often located on a roof. The degree 

 to which the fish are dried depends upon the trade. If the fish are 

 to be sold in the southern States, they must be drier than if they 

 are to be sold in the immediate vicinity. The length of time the fish 

 must remain upon the flakes to dry to the required degree depends 

 entirely upon the weather. The lower the humidity, the less time is 



