"4 PACIFIC COD FISHERIES. 
archaic methods of doing business prevalent not only in the Pacific 
cod industry but also in that of the Atlantic. 
If the shippers of codfish were to copy somewhat the methods 
followed by the meat packers they would have less loss from spoilage, 
while the fish would present a much nicer appearance and the de- 
mand for it would naturally increase. The only difference between 
salted meat and salted fish is that the latter is less able to spoil. 
When shipping to the Atlantic seaboard the dealers usually select 
the season from November to March and load the fish in refrigerator 
cars. The latter are cooled but little during the shipment. In ship- 
ping lesser distances the fish are usually stowed in ordinary box cars. 
Sometimes these box cars are shunted onto sidetracks and held for 
days at a time, and should the temperature rise above 65° F. during 
this period and under these conditions reddening is apt to appear. 
The better plan is to have cold-storage depots located in trade cen- 
ters. The fish could be shipped in refrigerator cars to these depots 
frequently, where they could be put in storage. The retailers could 
then be encouraged to order the fish in small lots, say enough to last 
for a week or 10 days, and thus they would always have on hand 
comparatively fresh fish. 
In their eagerness, however, to do business the jobbers frequently 
overload the retailer, with the result that the fish dries out to such an 
extent that the salt crystallizes upon it and the fish presents an un- 
attractive appearance, while if the temperature rises above a certain 
point reddening is apt to occur should conditions be ripe for it. 
Grocery stores are the chief handlers of cod, and but few of them 
are properly equipped for doing this. It is but rarely that a customer 
who enters one of these stores will see dried cod on exhibition, or, if 
he does, it is usually whole fish jumbled up in a case and presenting 
an unattractive appearance. Usually the fish is kept in a back room 
or the cellar and is brought out only when the customer orders it. 
As many customers are in an uncertain frame of mind as to what 
they want when they enter a store, and usually decide after a glance 
over the visible stock, it follows naturally that but few ever order 
salt cod, and, owing to the extra labor involved in bringing the cod 
from the back room or cellar, the clerks rarely ever call the customer’s 
attention to its existence. 
If the retailer fitted up a small refrigerated show case with glass 
sides and top, somewhere in the store proper, he could not only keep 
in this his dried cod, especially the bricks, tablets, middles, etc., 
which could be tastefully arranged on china trays, but could also 
display a number of other articles which require to be kept in a 
cool place and which are usually sold in grocery stores, such as 
smoked fish, pickled fish, ete. 
