310 REtOUT OF COMMISSTOXER OF FlStt AND FlSnERlES. [2] 



come in contact with another. In the spring the fish will be of the 

 same quality as if they had been caught the same year. They make 

 as iar as I am aware, no difference in salting between the fresh hsh and 

 ihose that remain over. There is no salting in vats (A«r), but^bms or 

 heaps are everywhere used. The fish which are caught in the fall, and 

 which cannot be dried the same year, are always thoroughly rinsed and 

 washed clean of blood before they are salted, and the black membrane 

 is removed, just as when they are washed for drying. I observed that 

 after the resalting of the fish is finished, all the salt which is not taken 

 up by the fish is again mixed with the fresh salt, and in this manner is 

 used many times. After the fish are washed out they are laid in small 

 bundles or heaps. The fish are all laid in the same way, and remain 

 lying in this position until the water has drained off and a little stiffness 

 is perceived in them. If there is an opportunity the next day to get at 

 the fish for dryiug, it is improved. In the opposite event the fish are 

 laid in square heaps, which contain not more than 100 to 150. In case 

 there should be no drying weather upon subsequent days, the fish are 

 repiled daily. After one or two days of drying the pressing i)rocess 

 begins, and this is repeated successively as the drying progresses. 

 TSlien this piocess has adv;mce<l to the stage in which the final pressing 

 is about to take ]»lace and the iish are collected into larger i)iles of 

 about 20 .skippidtd, these are covered with mats, and boards are placed 

 on top of tliem in the form of a roof. Then on the top of this is laid a 

 thickness of stone ecpial to that of the fish in the pile, this method of 

 pressing being universal. The fish remain under this pressure four or 

 five days, and, if the weather allows, they are laid out again after this 

 time; but inuuediately u])on l)eiug collected again they are weighted 

 with the same pressure. II" the weather should be unfavorable for any 

 further drying after this time, the fish are repiled daily and weighted 

 constantly with tlie same pressure until they are dry. 



The principal ditlerence between our mode of drying and the Icelandic 

 method is that the pressing process contributes most largely to the dry- 

 ing of the Iceland fish. The sun is seldom so warm in Iceland as to 

 injure the fish, but this may sonu'times happen. 



€. The drying place consists of cobble-stones, which are for the most 

 part artificially laid, lioards and twigs are also used to sojne extent. 

 The advantage of the Icelandic drying 'place is that the air circulates 

 above as well as below. 



The reason that the Icelanders press their fish so much more than we 

 do is to be found, first, in the fact that the fish are salted more, and, 

 secondly, that there is more cloudy weather and less sn,nshine, so that 

 they hasten the drying by constant heaping and the necessary i)ressing; 

 a third reason is that the fish are fatter and thicker, and therefore en- 

 dure more pressing than ours do. 



Dried fish arc; usually one-half lighter than fresh fish, and, if the fish 

 are very fat, they weigh perhaps a little less in proportion after drying. 



