306 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



cusk and pollock. The winter fish are worth more than 

 fish caught in the warmer months. 1 For the local and 

 nearby markets the fish are packed in bundles of a quintal 

 each and tied up with cords, or in wooden boxes holding 

 from 100 to 450 pounds each. At Gloucester, Boston, 

 Vinal Haven and Portland large quantities of dried 

 ground fish are prepared as boneless cod and placed upon 

 the markets in neater shape and fancier coverings than 

 is the uncut fish. 2 



The preparation of boneless cod originated with the 

 patenting of a process in 1868 by William D. Cutler, of 

 Philadelphia. By this new process the skin, bones and 

 refuse matter of the fish were separated from the fiber 

 of the fish, the latter was run through a machine which 

 thoroughly broke up the fibers into a disintegrated mass, 

 and the new product was spread upon some hard surface, 

 heated and pressed. The finished product was known as 

 "dessicated fish." Within nine months, improvements on 

 this process were devised at New York City, Brooklyn, and 

 Provincetown. At first the inferior grades of fish were 

 used in the production of the article, but as an increased 

 demand arose for the food more attention was paid to the 

 preparation of it for the market. So rapidly did the 

 business increase that by 1875 over 500,000 pounds of bone- 

 less fish were prepared at Gloucester alone ; in 1879, about 

 12,000,000 pounds were prepared at Gloucester, and about 

 6,000,000 pounds elsewhere in New England. By 1898, 

 the New England production of boneless cod was about 



* For the year 1898 the price per quintal of large cured cod was 

 from $4.50 to $6.25, for medium cod $3.00 to $4.00. The values of 

 other kinds of cured ground fish were for hake, $1.75 to $2.50; 

 haddock, $2.00 to $2.50; cusk, $3.25 to $3.62; and pollock, $2.75 

 to $3.00. 



2 Preservation of fishery products by drying and dry-salting, p. 

 398. 



