FISH-PRESERVING COMPANIES. 13 



fish by preservation in a marketable form for home con- 

 sumption, or export. It is not unusual to salt and smoke the 

 mullet, but its very fatness makes it a bad fish for this mode 

 of treatment — it takes salt too readily and is apt to become 

 rancid. The roe, however, salted and smoked is equal to 

 anything of the kind so prepared, and in that state it is 

 rajoidly bought up in quantity. 



With a fish of such richness, delicacy, and distinctive flavour 

 it was supposed that no plan of preservation has been found to 

 surpass that generally adopted for the salmon (a fish possessing 

 many of its qualities), viz., boiling and hermetically sealing 

 in tin cans. This process has been adopted on several occa- 

 sions, and always with success. Mullet thus preserved 

 was displayed at the great International Eisheries Exhibi- 

 tion, London, 1883, at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 

 1888, and at the several exhibitions held in one or other of 

 the Australian Colonies, and always received the highest 

 commendation, not only from the public but also from 

 ofiicial experts. 



As the outcome of these experiments made by the Eisheries 

 Commissioners, two companies, one at Cape Hawke and 

 another at the Clarence E,iver, have embarked in this industry 

 with every probability of immediate success. Possessing, as 

 New South Wales does, the raw material in such unlimited 

 abundance, it is difficult to forecast the ultimate results of 

 these small beginnings. 



THE CAPE HAWKE FISH-PEESEEYING COMPANY. 



The works are situated on Wallis Lake, about a mile from 

 its entrance ;— though not extensive, they are capable of 

 turning out about 6U0 tins per diem — indeed, the establish- 

 ment of the factory in the first instance was purely speculative, 

 and at the start the venture was met with the great difficulty 

 of having to contend against the imported article, which has 

 a strong hold upon the public taste ; however, owing to the 

 excellence of their arrangements, and the undoubted value of 

 some species of our fish for preserving purposes, the 

 proprietors have been rewarded by a ready sale for their 

 productions ; so much so indeed, that the orders during the 

 last Lenten season exceeded the quantity which the manu- 

 factory was able to turn out. 



The Company, so far, has confined its operations to the 

 canning of smoked fish, in a style similar to that employed 



