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



FILLING THE CANS. 



From the driers, the racks are taken to the packing room, where 

 women first remove the heads of the fish by cutting with scissors 

 ("shearing"); or, if the sardines are small, by snipping them off with 

 the fingers ("snipping")- The fish are then packed in the cans. 

 In most canneries the filled cans are placed in rectangular pans, with 

 a capacity of 25 cans each, the pans being then stacked in tiers and 

 carried on trucks to the sealing machine. In others the cans are 

 passed directly to a traveling belt which carries them to the oiling 

 and sealing machines. 



ADDING THE OIL. 



In plants where the oiling device is not attached to the sealing 

 machine the cans are taken from the packing room to an automatic 

 machine (PI. VI, fig. 2), which can be set to deliver a definite amount 

 of oil to each can. Twenty-five cans may be filled with oil each time 

 a pan containing this number passes through it. Similar oiling 

 machines are sometimes operated by a hand lever. 



In many canneries, however, the oiling device is attached to the 

 sealing machine, making it possible to accomplish these two steps 

 in one operation. 



SEALING THE CANS. 



At the sealing machine the covers are placed on the cans filled with 

 sardines and oil and passed through the rolls. Three different types 

 of machines are in use for closing sardine cans. The machines in 

 most general use are equipped with rolls which travel around the 

 projecting edges of the can and the lid as it fits over the can, crimping 

 the edges of the can and the lid together and at the same time com- 

 pressing them (PL VII, fig. 1). Another type of machine seals the 

 lid on by direct compression. The can is held firmly between jaws 

 which close together, crimping the lid upon the cans (PL VII, fig. 2). 

 The third method hermetically seals the cans by the use of solder, 

 which is placed upon the edge of the can. The lid and can are then 

 passed, by means of a mechanical device, under heated rolls. 



PROCESSING OR STERILIZATION. 



The sealed cans are processed in tanks of boiling water for one 

 and three-fourths to two and one-fourth, sometimes two and one- 

 half, hours, according to the individual packer's idea of the time 

 necessary for sterilization. One or two canneries employ retorts for 

 sterilization. These are cast-iron cylindrical or rectangular steam- 

 heated kettles with tightly fitting covers or doors, the contents of 

 which can be heated under pressure. 



STORING THE CANS. 



After processing the cans are removed from the tanks,* dried, and 

 partially cleaned (PL VIII, fig. 1) by mixing them with sawdust and 



