64 PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 
orders are received, which may be a year or more; in that case more 
salt being added from time to time; but the sooner they are used 
after the first few weeks the better, otherwise they have a tendency 
to turn yellow. Sunlight will also turn them yellow, so every effort 
is made to keep the storage house in deep shadow. The butts are 
either immense hogsheads or square tanks made of bolted timbers, 
and are used over and over again for years. 
The curing of salt fish depends upon drying, and this is accom- 
plished in three ways—by the use of salt, by pressure, and by ex- 
posure to the air, either in the open air or in a drier. On this coast 
all three agents are employed. 
When the fish are taken out of the butts they are piled in a kench 
or water-horsed to drain off part of the brine and to give the fish 
a smooth appearance. The fish are stacked face down, with the 
exception of the lowest layer in contact with the rack, in kenches 
about 4 feet high. If there is urgent demand for them, they are 
left in this condition for 24 to 48 hours. If more time can be al- 
lowed, they are repiled at the end of the first or second day, so that 
the fish on top may go to the bottom and be subjected to pressure 
to squeeze out part of the water. If the weather is unfavorable for 
drying the kench is repiled every second or third day, and this may 
be continued for 10 days or more. With full-pickle fish, such as pre- 
pared on this coast, it is not necessary to kench or water-horse so 
thoroughly as in the case of slack-salted or hard-dried fish. 
From the water-horse the fish go to the flakes, which are of two 
kinds, stationary and canting, the former being the more common. 
The flake consists of a lattice bed about 8 feet wide, 30 inches high, 
and as long as the requirements may demand. The lattice used on 
this bed is made of triangular strips 1 inch on the base, placed 
about 8 inches apart. The fish therefore rest upon a sharp edge 
about every 4 inches, this giving the maximum circulation of air 
about the fish. The canting-flake frames, of which there are a num- 
ber in use on this coast, are fixed only at the middle and to a hori- 
zontal axis, so that they can be turned at an agle with the horizon, 
in order to expose only the edge of the fish to the sun and to get 
the benefit of even a slight breeze. They are practical only in yards 
running north and south. 
Rectangular boxes, with peaked roofs, known as “flake boxes,” 
are used for covering the fish, when gathered together in small heaps, 
from dampness or rain. This box is generally 38 inches long, 22 
inches wide, and 14 inches high, the whole being made of 3-inch 
rough boards. 
