THE SEA FISHERIES OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 135 



the limit during - which bait can be kept fresh, instead of six or eight 

 weeks, as claimed by the New London fishermen, who see no difficulty 

 whatever in carrying enough fresh bait for a long voyage to the banks, 

 supplemented, should it be necessary, by soft clams, and thus obviating 

 the necessity of going into Newfoundland or elsewhere for a fresh sup- 



ply. 



Ice can be applied much more advantageously for cooling fish (inde- 

 pendently of freezing them) in specially constructed apparatus, known 

 usually as refrigerators. The refrigerator, however, furnishes the most 

 economical mode of applying cold to the rish. In some cases the func- 

 tion of the refrigerator is simply to prevent an unnecessary waste of ice 

 by melting away, so that a given quantity will last a much longer time. 

 Other forms of refrigerators have a very different function, the simplest 

 of which consist of an arrangement by which a current of cold, dry air 

 is made to circulate through a provision chamber, taking off the excess 

 of moisture and allowing it to be condensed upon the ice itself. This 

 desiccation may be so rapid and excessive as to bring it under the head 

 of " preservation by drying." It is not at present used to any great ex- 

 tent in the sea-fisheries for the preservation, on a large scale, of fish for 

 a long time. This is most effectively accomplished by the hard freezing 

 process, which' is destined to take the place of all others before long, as 

 preserving the animal fiber indefinitely, or as long as the freezing is main- 

 tained at the proper temperature, and with a comparatively sma'll con- 

 sumption of ice and salt. 



According to Mr. E. G. Blackford, the eminent fish-dealer in Fulton 

 Market, New York, a room, 10 feet each way, or of 1,000 cubic feet, 

 with properly constructed non-conducting walls surrounding it, can be 

 kept in effective operation in the summer weather of New York by 

 the use of 2,000 pounds of ice and 2 bushels of salt per week, with 

 less in colder weather. This would be, for a room of that size, 4J tons 

 of ice and bushels of salt per mouth. As, however, all the bait neces- 

 sary for a trawling expedition to the banks for cod could be kept in a 

 room of half that size, it is likely that three-fourths the amount of ice 

 and salt would be sufficient, or about 3£ tons of ice and 7 bushels of salt 

 per month. With all the fresh bait on board required for a voyage to 

 the banks and the filling up of the vessel, the amount for two months 

 should not exceed at the outside 7 tons of ice. Allowing as much 

 more for wastage, 14 tons would probably be an ample allowance. Dur- 

 iug 1877 ice cost $2 a ton at Gloucester and $12 a ton at Newfoundland. 



A patent has been recently introduced to the notice of fish-dealers, by 

 which fish are arranged conveniently in vessels which are filled up with 

 water, and the whole then frozen into a solid cake, and kept in this con- 

 dition until used. This process is claimed by those interested to keep 

 the fish perfectly fresh indefinitely without the evaporation and loss of 

 savor so frequently found in the dry-hard method. 



In freezing animals hard and stiff care must be taken to extract the 



