HOW TO COOK THE BASS 95 



Storing and Shipping. 



If a refrigerator or an ice-house be available, bass may be 

 kept indefinitely by placing them in a box, with the bottom 

 resting on a bare block of ice, and then strewing over on top 

 of the fish pieces of broken ice, which may be renewed when 

 melted. Care must be taken, however, to provide small 

 outlets in the bottom of the box, through which the melted 

 ice may escape. 



When bass are to be shipped any distance a small quantity 

 of coarse salt is sprinkled along the back bone, and they are 



packed in a box with cedar or hemlock branches. Grass or 

 sawdust should not be used for this purpose. They will then 

 remain quite fresh for twenty-four hours. If packed with a 

 layer of ice on the bottom of the box, then a layer of branches, 

 then the bass, then another layer of branches, and finally 

 a layer of broken ice on top, with a small hole in the bottom 

 of the box for drainage, they will be fit for use after a 

 voyage of two or three days. 



When there are no conveniences for packing, or one is 

 pushed for time, bass may be scaled, cleaned, dried, and 

 wrapped tightly in a piece of cheese cloth and then in a piece 

 of thick brown paper. I have carried them, so packed, in 

 a closed satchel, on an extremely hot day in July, with a 

 maximum temperature of ninety degrees Fahrenheit, and 

 found them fresh at the end of a twelve hours' journey. 



