SHIPPING PACKAGES. 23 



Loss in preparing " absolutely boneless " fish : Fish weighed 468 

 pounds before removal of skins, bones, trimmings, etc., and 311 pounds 

 afterwards; loss 157 pounds 13 per cent of gross weight or 33.3 per 

 cent of the dried weight, 



Total loss in weight from the catch to the finished product is 

 about 74 per cent, though some of the by-products can be utilized. 



SHIPPING PACKAGES. 



Fish are packed whole for shipment in boxes or bundles of all sizes 

 to suit the order, but there are regular boxes for 50, 100, 200, 300, and 

 448 pounds. The 128-pound drum is principally for export to Spain, 

 Portugal, Italy, and southern European countries, while the 448- 

 pound drum is used very largely in the Porto Rican trade. The 

 fish packed in drums are generally snappers, and are all slack salted 

 and well dried, except the hake, which is extra dried. Some large 

 pollock are sent to Porto Rico. 



When placed in drums the fish are carefully arranged in circular 

 fashion, with the face up, until several layers have been put in, and 

 then a layer is placed backs up. The fish are then well tamped 

 with a heavy wooden tamper. Fish are again added and the tamping 

 repeated at intervals. When the last fish are finally piled on the 

 drum they will extend several inches above it, and a ratchet or a 

 hydraulic press is necessary to force them down so that the head can 

 be put on. 



The fish made up into bundles, wrapped with matting, and corded 

 as a rule weigh 50 and 100 pounds, though the quintal, or 112-pound 

 package, and the 125-pound package are also used. 



Skinned fish are put up in strips and middles. The strips consist 

 of one-half the fish split down the middle and are cut to suit the 

 trade some left whole and some with more or less of the nape and 

 tb inner portion at the tail cut off in order to get heavy pieces. These 

 sire put up usually in 20 and 40 pound boxes. The middle is the 

 whole fish after being skinned and the nape and tail cut off. How 

 much of the nape and tail is cut off depends upon the number of 

 middles permitted in a box of a certain size. They are quoted by 

 the size, 8 to 10, or 10 tp 12, in a 40-pound box. A box containing 

 10 to 12 middles will usually rate at least one-fourth cent per pound 

 less than when the larger middles are used. 



Cusk are often packed as middles, and the price is about 3 cents 

 less per pound than for cod. The hake is more often packed as 

 strips. The English or Nova Scotia style cured strips are made from 

 fish incompletely salted and given an additional drying after skin- 

 ning. One of the favorite methods is to dry these fish in the kench 

 instead of in pickle in the butts. These strips are put up in 30- 

 poiind boxes only and few are sold outside of New England. 



