THE SARDINE INDUSTRY. 509 



platform on the grounds near the building, where the fish may be exposed in pleasant weather, 

 and is also provided with a room for drying the herring by artificial heat when it is damp and 

 rainy outside. 



Some have several buildings, where the different branches of the work are usually kept sep- 

 arate ; but the best arranged have all under one roof, with separate rooms for each particular class 

 of workmen. The cutting, salting, pressing, and bathing rooms are usually on the first floor, while 

 the drying, frying, packing, and soldering rooms are on the next above. The drying room fre- 

 quently forms a third story, situated just below tlw roof, with one or more large ventilators, through 

 which the damp air passes out ; or in some cases a small addition is made above the main roof, 

 which is in turn used as a place for spreading the fish during pleasant weather. With most firms 

 it is customary for the boxes and cans to be made at the cannery, in which case there is usually a 

 carpenter-shop and several tinshops either in separate buildings or in some part of the cannery 

 in which this work is carried on. 



The cost of the canneries depends wholly on the amount of machinery used and the extent of 

 the business done. Those built at Eastport vary from $2,500 to $15,000, including apparatus and 

 land, the average for each being about $4,000. 



THE TRANSPORTATION BOATS. The boats employed for carrying the fish to the canneries are 

 usually small open sail-boats, 18 to 30 feet long and 10 to 12 feet wide. Each cannery has from 

 two to four of them. They generally start out at half-ebb, visiting the weirs in the different local- 

 ities to see what ones have fish in them, and these are visited at low water to get the herring when 

 they have been seined. 



As the fish are very delicate, it becomes ne'cessary that they should be brought to the cannery 

 within a few hours, at most, after they are taken from the water, and it is therefore desirable that 

 no time should be lost, and the boats are usually on hand as soon as the fish are seined. 



Care must be taken that the boat shall not be overloaded, for if too many herring are put in 

 they are apt to heat and spoil, while the lower ones may be bruised from the pressure of the mass 

 above, and when in this condition they soon turn red and become soft and worthless. It is also 

 desirable that the fish should be distributed through different compartments, so that they may not 

 slide about as the boat lurches in the trough of the sea. The largest boats carry about 10 hogs- 

 heads, while those of average size carry only 5 hogsheads. The quantity for each varies consider- 

 ably with the weather, for when warm the load must be proportionately lighter. 



The fish must also be carefully protected from the sun during the summer months, and for 

 this reason the boats are usually supplied with a covering of canvas for the protection of the fish. 

 In some cases the compartment that holds the fish is made light, and has a covering of boards in 

 place of the canvas, thus giving a more uniform temperature. 



The mode of transportation is still very crude, and it is very important that some one should 

 build a boat that shall be adapted to the work, as many times the present quantity of fish can easily 

 bo brought in one that is suitably arranged. Large shallow trays would be very desirable for this 

 purpose. These could be arranged on either side of the boat or in the bottom, so that the air 

 would circulate freely among them. They could be filled full of fish, and in this way the weight 

 of those in the upper trays would be kept from the ones below, and a much larger quantity could 

 be carried than in the ordinary way, while the tendency to slide about as the boat labored in the 

 sea would be entirely overcome. 



As soon as the fish have been taken aboard the sail is set, and the boat starts for the cannery, 

 but it often happens during the calm weather of summer, especially when the tide is unfavorable, 

 that they are detained for many hours, and the fish frequently spoil before they reach the can- 



