[13] FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 1043 



Bean, in Section F. " Catalogue of the Collection of Fishes." In the 

 year 1882 there were from thirty-five to forty canneries in operation on 

 the Columbia Eiver, ten on the Sacramento Biver, one each on the Eel 

 and Rogue Rivers, and four on the Umpqua Biver. 



The quantity canned in 1882 in United States canneries on -the Pa- 

 cific coast was about 1,000,000 cases, or 48,000,000 one-pound cans, equiv- 

 alent to about 60,000,000 pounds of live fish. Of this enormous amount 

 of fish one-half goes to Great Britain, where much is re-exported ; the 

 United States consumes about 300,000 cases; about 100,000 cases go 

 to Australia ; the balance to other countries. 



In the ordinary method of canning salmon the fish are beheaded, 

 cleaned, and cut into pieces of suitable size to fill the cans within 

 one-fourth of an inch of the top. The covers are then put on and sol- 

 dered down. The air tight filled cans are nest passed to the boilers or 

 vats, measuring about 5 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 4 feet deep, when 

 they are steamed for an hour, then taken out and cooled. A small hole 

 in the lid, hitherto soldered up, is now opened by applying a hot iron, 

 the gases allowed to escape and the cans immediately made air-tight 

 again. They are next boiled for two hours in a bath of water salted to 

 raise the boiling point, and after cooling are labeled and packed in cases 

 of four-dozen one-pound cans each. 



THE SARDINE INDUSTRY. 



The sardine industry is confined to the State of Maine. It is of re- 

 cent origin, and until 1880 was carried on chiefly at Eastport. Experi- 

 ments in this business were made as early as 1S66, but it was not fairly 

 inaugurated until 1875, since which time it has rapidly increased. Ac- 

 cording to the Tenth Census it gave employment in 1880 to 1,876 fisher- 

 men and factory hands. The production of the canneries in that year 

 was 7,550,868 cans, valued at $788,576. The fish were the common sea 

 herring (Clupeaharengus), the small ones being classed as sardines, and 

 the large ones either as herring or sea trout. The sardines were canned 

 in oil, spices, mustard, in tomato sauce, or put up in barrels and kegs as 

 Russian sardines and anchovies. The quantity of each brand was as 

 follows : Sardines in oil, 6,141,400 one-quarter pound and 142,000 one- 

 half pound cans, worth $571,303 ; sardines in spices, 579,850 one-half 

 pound cans, $86,978; sardines in mustard, 538,650 one-half pound cans, 

 $80,797 ; sardines in tomato sauce, 22,700 one-half pound cans, $4,5-10 ; 

 brook trout, or large herring, 24,000 two-pound cans, $6,500 ; sea trout, 

 or large herring, 50,584 three-pound cans, $22,058; "broiled mackerel," 

 50,784 three-pound cans, $16,400; Russian sardines, 8,165 barrels, 

 $28,578 ; and anchovies, 200 barrels, $500. 



While the canning of small herring as sardines is carried on only in 

 Maine, the larger herring are also put up in Boston, Gloucester, and 

 other places. The import of foreign sardines and anchovies might per- 

 haps be supposed to decrease in proportion to the increase of the quan- 



