60 SALMON FISHERIES OF PACIFIC COAST. 



BOXING OR CASING. 



A case of salmon generally contains 48 one-pound cans or their 

 equivalent, i. e., 24 two-pound cans or 96 half-pound cans. Some 

 canneries pack their half-pound cans in cases of 48. These cases are 

 usually made of wood and cost from 9 to 11 cents each knocked down. 



CAN MAKING. 



Some of the canneries in the coast States purchase their cans ready 

 made, but the usual method is to purchase the sheet tin and make 

 up the cans in the canneries. This is especially necessary in Alaska, 

 as it would be impossible to find room on the cannery ships for such 

 a bulk as they would make in addition to the other supplies necessary. 

 Furthermore, the making of cans provides work for a large part of 

 the crew, otherwise unemployed while the rest are getting ready the 

 other necessary paraphernalia. The work is done by machinery 

 and occupies several weeks' time. 



MILD CURING. 



The beginning of the business of mild curing salmon, or " sweet 

 pickling,'' as it is sometimes called, is of comparatively recent date. 



In 1889 a German dealer came to the Columbia River and tried to 

 interest some of the cannery men in the business. Messrs. J. O. Han- 

 thorn, M. J. Kinney, and J. W. Cook were persuaded to prepare 

 some, and the plant of the Northwest Cold Storage Company, at 

 Portland, was used to keep the fish at a low temperature during 

 repacking and preparation for shipment. These fish were shipped 

 to Germany, but the shippers received no financial returns, word 

 coming back that the fish were not satisfactory. 



Owing to this lack of success from the first effort no further at- 

 tempt was made until 1894, when Mueller & Loring, of Chicago, put 

 up a carload of mild-cured salmon at Kalama, Wash., and shipped it 

 to Germany. In 1896 Charles Ruckles and Wallace Brothers, of 

 Kalama, packed several carloads for the German market. It was 

 not until 1898 that the business was permanently established on the 

 Columbia, the Trescott Packing Company and S. Schmidt & Sons 

 putting up plants at Warrenton and Astoria, respectively. 



In 1900 the Trescott Packing Company 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. 



