FACTORY EXPERIMENTS IN CURING. 31 



fish for a time before refilling had taken place. This fact indicated 

 that the germs required the presence of air for growth. 



Experiments were made using fish cakes and parts of cakes, wrap- 

 ping well in paraffin paper and cheese cloth, and dipping in hot 

 paraffin in order to exclude the air. Twenty-five packages were 

 treated and a like number not treated. The treated packages re- 

 tained their weight and fresh appearance and suffered no loss, while 

 the untreated lost in weight, became very dry, salty on the surface, 

 and reddened. .While this method is too crude to be commercially 

 successful, it is proof conclusive that exclusion of air will prevent 

 reddening. It is the practice of the factories to put up shredded cod 

 in glass jars sealed in a vacuum. This will not spoil so long the 

 seal is intact. 



An experiment was also made of putting forty-eight 1 -pound cakes 

 in tin meat boxes and sealing in vacuum. Twelve of the cakes were 

 red at the time of sealing. The reddening did not proceed after 

 sealing, nor did reddening develop in the good cakes. These fish 

 were kept near a furnace from October 25 to March 15, when the 

 temperature averaged about 85 F. The ordinary cakes, unsealed, 

 spoiled under like conditions in from ten to fifteen days. This test 

 was much more severe than the fish should ever be subjected to in 

 trade practice. The fish were the full pickle cure and contained 

 about 50 per cent of moisture. On opening they appeared to be very 

 moist, and in fact a few drops of free brine were found in the can. 

 The appearance and odor resembled those of fish taken out of old 

 brine rather than those of a fresh fish cake. They were good, but 

 not so attractive as might be desired. Some of the cans were opened 

 at the end of one year and the fish pronounced to be good, while 

 others seemed to be more or less sour. In all cases the color became 

 somewhat darker or more yellowish. The tin was only slightly 

 attacked. A comparison of the moisture and salt content of this fish 

 with that of beef and ham put up in a similar manner shows that 

 both were too high in the fish, and that possibly a better result would 

 have been secured by using the slack-salted product. 



The experiments indicate that spoilage can be avoided by packing 

 in sealed boxes or otherwise excluding air. 



Some of the large meat-packing establishments put up chipped 

 beef, sliced bacon, and sliced ham in tins from 1 to 5 pounds, and 

 these keep perfectly. The larger cans are for the use of retail 

 butchers and grocers whose sales of dried beef or bacon would not be 

 more than a few pounds per day or week. It would seem that the 

 same principle could be applied to the packing of salt codfish. Most 

 fish are sold for Friday consumption, and for the grocer or dealer 

 who can not use a case per week this small package would serve as an 

 excellent substitute. There would be neither loss of weight nor spoil- 



