MASSACHUSETTS: BOSTOX DISTRICT. 



209 



Quantity and value of fish imported into Boston from Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland during the yeart 1878 and 1*79. 



DOMINION OF CANADA. 



NEWFOUNDLAND. 



Quantity and value of fish oils imported into Boston from Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland during the years 1878 



and 1879. 



ICE AND SALT USED IN THE FISHERIES. Ice is now considered as necessary as bait or other 

 indispensable articles in the outfit of the market fishing vessel. Large quantities of ice are also 

 used by the receivers of fresh fish. It is delivered at the wharf to vessels or stores in large blocks. 

 When wanted for packing fish, it is cut up and shoveled into a crusher, where it is broken into 

 small pieces, and is then freely used in packing fish in boxes for transportation to all parts of the 

 country. Previous to 1845 it was seldom if ever taken to sea by the fishermen. Vessels in that 

 year began taking ice on halibut trips, returning with the fish on ice. Although fish thus pre- 

 served were in good condition, they found a slow sale. Dealers said, "They have been on ice and 

 that has spoiled them." Notwithstanding this prejudice, the use of ice became general, and, with 

 the growth of the fish business, has shown a steady increase, so that vessels now use more or less 

 at all seasons of the year. The amount taken on a trip depends on the state of the weather, the 

 size of the vessel, and the probable length of the trip. In winter 1 or 2 tons, and in warm 

 weather from 5 to 10 tons, are average quantities. The price is very changeable, an open or very 

 cold winter permitting the harvesting of a short or full supply. During 1879 the price from 

 January 1 to May 1 was $3.50 a ton, and from May 1 to January 1, 1880, $3 a ton. The winter 

 of 1879-'80 being mild, but a very small crop of ice was secured in Massachusetts, and the supply 

 came chiefly from Maine. The price advanced, April 1, 1880, from $3 to $4, and on May 1 was 5 

 a ton. The fresh-fish stores and vessels of Boston are supplied by the Union Ice Company, that 

 employs thirty men and has a capital of $60,000. 



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