16 COD AND OTHEE SALT FISH FOR THE MARKET. 



The flake yards are located, near the fish factory. Formerly the; 

 were all placed on the ground, sometimes near a street, but the prac 

 tice has changed, and they are now found above the butt sheds o 

 other buildings, thus avoiding the dirt and dust which might be di< 

 tributed by passing vehicles. Some of the flake yards are built ove 

 the water. 



At regular intervals along the flakes, crosspieces are provide* 

 over which to stretch a canvas to protect the fish from sunburn dm 

 ing hot weather. Boxes or coops are also provided to cover the fis 

 during rains and at night, the tops of the boxes being pitched t 

 shed the water. These flake boxes are about 38 inches long, 24 inche 

 wide, and 14 inches high, and will cover from 20 to 40 fish; durin 

 the day they are pushed under the flakes. 



FIG. 1. Covers used for protecting fish piles at night and in wet weather. 



The fish are spread out carefully on the flakes with the face sic 

 up and the drying is continued as long as may be necessary for tl 

 particular grade of fish. The full-pickle fish are dried for tl 

 shortest period, as they can not be skinned readily if too dry, an< 

 furthermore, the trade seems to desire fish which are moist and n< 

 too hard, and these retain practically 50 per cent of their water. 1 

 the sun is fairly warm and there is a good breeze, the drying can I 

 accomplished in about ten hours as the minimum time, but this ma 

 be greatly increased with unfavorable weather conditions. Only or 

 drying is usual for the full-cured fish. 



The slack-salted fish are generally dried for two days, kenched fc 

 two or three days to " sweat " them, then placed on the flakes agai 

 for one day. Porto Rican or hard-dried fish are dried for thrt 



