4 BULLETIN 908, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



In 1903 machine-made and machine-sealed cans, upon which 

 experiments had been made previously, were generally substituted 

 for the three-piece, handmade, soldered cans originally used, and an 

 independent company undertook to supply the cans. As a result, 

 the quantity of fish packed increased markedly. In 1899, when 

 handmade and hand-sealed cans were in use, the total pack of 

 sardines amounted to 44,951,244 pounds, valued at .$4,212,351. 

 In 1904, just after the machine-made, machine-sealed cans had 

 been introduced, the total quantity packed was 87,224,524 pounds, 

 worth $4,380,498. In 1909, 90,694,284 pounds, valued at $4,931 ,831, 

 were put up in the sardine canneries (33). In 1914 the value of the 

 entire pack was $6,238,933(34). It is interesting to note that while 

 the total quantity of sardines packed in either 1904 or 1909 was 

 approximately double that packed in 1899, the total value was 

 practically the same for all three years. 



Several factors have led those engaged in the sardine industry to 

 strive for a large output, often with a tendency to sacrifice quality. 

 In fact, the majority of the improvements which from time to time 

 have been adopted have been designed to increase the quantity of 

 the pack rather than to improve its quality. At first, the sardines 

 canned in this country were fried and packed in olive oil, and com- 

 pared favorably with the foreign article. At one time the American 

 sardine was sold on the market as the foreign product, which decep- 

 tion, however, was soon detected by the trade, and the dealers were 

 forced to sell the domestic article on its own merits. But with the 

 increasing production and increasing competition the price which 

 the goods commanded declined, until it became necessary to pack 

 the sardines more cheaply, resulting in the appearance on the market 

 of a product vastly inferior to that sold during the first few seasons 

 of the American industry. About 18S0 the practice of using cotton- 

 seed oil instead of olive oil was introduced, and some 10 years later 

 the excellent custom of frying the fish in oil gave way to the modern 

 method of cooking the fish in live steam. Several companies, how- 

 ever, still fry the fish in oil. 



THE MAINE SARDINE. 



As it now enters the channels of trade, the Maine sardine is packed 

 either in oil or in mustard or some other sauce, in cans of varying 

 sizes, known as quarter oil, high-quarter oil, half oil, quarter mustard, 

 and three-quarter mustard (p. 11). At the close of the investiga- 

 tion here reported, owing to the difficulty of importing foreign sar- 

 dines and the increased prices the domestic brands could command, 

 from 50,000 to 60,000 cases of sardines in olive oil were put up per 

 annum by some 12 or 15 canneries. As a rule, cottonseed oil is 

 used for packing sardines, the grade called prime summer yellow 

 being most commonly employed, although several packers use the 



