20 COD AND OTHER SALT FISH FOE THE MARKET. 



in a strong salt solution. The apparently illogical statement often 

 made, and as often doubted, that it is the saltiest fish, full pickle 

 cured, that spoil most readily has, therefore, a sound basis. 



The amount of salt taken up by the fish, as shown by the cured 

 product, is as follows: 



Amount of salt taken up ~by fish put up in different forms. 



The quantity of salt in the slack-salted product is much higher than 

 is generally supposed by those who prepare them ; this is due in part 

 to the lower water content. 



The crystals in both the Trapani and Iviza salts are about the 

 same, varying from one-eighth inch cubes to large masses. The 

 advantage of the coarse crystals over the fine ones lies in the slowness 

 with which they dissolve. Crystals which dissolve slowly abstract 

 water from the tisues for a longer time, and the face of the fish does 

 not become " salt burned." This condition occurs from the use of 

 very fine salt, which abstracts the water so rapidly from the tissues 

 with which it comes in contact that it causes coagulation. The salt 

 will crust on such a surface the moment that drying begins. The 

 fish pickled with coarse salt are evenly " struck " in a few days after 

 being placed in the butt : while those treated with fine salt become 

 surface struck within twenty-four hours, but the action seems to stop, 

 and the fish have the appearance of being slack salted. A fish is said 

 to be " well struck " when the tissue will resist moderate pressure 

 from the end of the finger, the term " struck " seeming to have refer- 

 ence to the firmness of the fiber rather than to the quantity of salt 

 present, though the assumption is that firmness and heavy salting are 

 necessarily dependent upon each other. 



STORAGE. 



After the fish have been dried they are carted to the storeroom and 

 kenched until they are packed for shipment. The kenching does not 

 differ essentially from that before going to the flakes. The kenches 

 are made about 3 feet high. The fish are replied only when neces- 

 sary, which during the warm weather may be once in a week or in 

 the cool weather once in two weeks or more. It is while the fish are 

 in the kenches that trouble begins with reddening and freckling, and 

 it is important that the stock of cured fish on hand in the summer 



