EVOLUTION OF THE FRENCH FISHERIES 307 



price of artificial ice was only 253. yd. per ton in 1907. 

 When the trawlers are more numerous it will probably 

 fall to is. per cwt. ; and this would mean a very appreci- 

 able saving, for the annual consumption of these steamers 

 is from 400 to 500 tons. The use of crushed or pounded 

 ice, however, presents certain disadvantages ; the water 

 from the melting ice soon becomes a perfect broth of 

 cultures. Artificial snow is better ; but a refrigerating 

 plant is best of all. It is to be hoped that many trawlers 

 will be provided with such apparatus. 



France is responsible for the first attempt at the preser- 

 vation of flesh on board ship by means of cold. About 

 1876 two companies, one at Havre and one at Marseilles, 

 imported frozen mutton from the Argentine ; but the 

 shareholders became discouraged and the companies 

 were wound up. The English successfully promoted a 

 similar enterprise in New Zealand. Some time later the 

 " Mare des Deux Mondes " was founded at Marseilles. 

 This company had a double object : to enter Hudson 

 Bay each spring, obtain a cargo of salmon, and bring 

 it back to France in freezing chambers ; and, having 

 landed its cargo, to trawl the banks of Arguin Island 

 by the entrance of the Baie du Levrier on the African 

 coast. This company also failed. In 1886 a new com- 

 pany, the "Trident," installed a refrigerating station at 

 Dakar; but the fish were of inferior quality and the 

 refrigerating steamer was wrecked, so the enterprise was 

 abandoned. We never hear anything now of the impor- 

 tation of frozen fish, although the English, the Germans, 

 and the Swiss have been industriously developing the 

 trade. It is true that a few French trawlers the Nord- 

 caper, the Rorqual, and the Canada among others are 

 fitted with refrigerators. There are also refrigerating 

 chambers on land, as at Arcachon, and refrigerating cars 



