THE COD AND COD-FISHERY 321 



is really distinctly to their own interest. In self-defence, 

 every buyer of fish should agree to insist on it. For the 

 fish really varies immensely in value according to the qual- 

 ity, and that depends far more on the making or curing 

 than on the fish, except that big fish are, as a rule, more 

 salable than small ones. Remove the cull and sell the fish 

 "Tal qual," and at once all incentive to spend time on clean- 

 liness disappears. It is almost like putting a premium on 

 laziness and carelessness. As the Newfoundland and Lab- 

 rador fish must compete in Europe with Norwegian and 

 even French fish, the whole colony suffers with the loss of 

 the good name of its marketed fish. It is an all-important 

 issue to almost every one in the colony, as all are more or 

 less dependent on King Cod. 



The printed forms on which receipts for fish are given by 

 a large firm to its dealers or fishermen, show clearly how 

 common it is to accept all Labrador fish as of the same 

 value : 



Received from 



Qtl. Ib. 

 Large 



Merchantable fish 



Medium 



Small 



Madeira 



West Indies 



Tal qual 



Inferior 



Damp 



Dun 



Slimy 



Labrador 



and also casks of gallons of oil. 



