MAINE SARDINE INDUSTRY. 



51 



racks. Figure 1, Plate XIV, shows a flake where the fish are entirely 

 too thick, although it does not represent the maximum number of fish 

 found upon one flake during the course of the investigation. Some- 

 times fish which have been flaked too thickly become glued together 

 during the drying process (PL XIV, fig. 2), making it necessary to 

 tear them apart before placing them in the cans, much to the detri- 

 ment of the pack. Too thick flaking also causes uneven drying. It 

 has been demonstrated that thin flaking of the fish results in a better 

 degree of drying in a shorter period, facilitates packing, eliminates 

 waste due to marred and broken fish, and produces a larger yield 

 and a better looking can of goods. 



The number of fish of various sizes that can be distributed to best 

 advantage on the flake is shown in Table 23. 



Table 23. — Number of fish of various sizes per flake (hand flaked). 



Size of flakes. 



Number of fish. 



Over all. 



Internal. 



4-inch. 



5-inch. 



6-inch. 



7-inch. 



8-inch. 



Inches. 

 22 by 36 

 30 by 30 



Inches. 

 19 by 33 

 27 by 27 



106 

 131 



87 

 104 



53 



84 



49 

 52 



48 

 48 



Several canneries packing the higher grades of sardines flake the 

 fish by hand, thereby securing a very even distribution and eliminat- 

 ing the losses from mechanical injury. Where machines are used for 

 this purpose, the utmost care should be given to their operation to 

 avoid a thick and uneven flaking of the fish. 



DRYING THE FISH. 



Drying is a very important step in the canning of sardines, par- 

 ticularly in the case of those which are steam cooked. Packers who 

 fry the fish in oil realize the necessity of frying only fish which have 

 been properly dried in order to prevent spattering and breaking when 

 the fish are first placed in the fryer. Fish after frying in oil do not 

 contain an excessive amount of water, one point of superiority of 

 fried sardines over poorly dried steam cooked sardines. Fried fish 

 contain a fairly uniform quantity of water, ranging from 60 to 64 

 per cent, which should be the limit for the degree of dryness to which 

 steamed fish are brought before packing. 



In the tunnel type of driers where the removal of the excess water 

 is accomplished by drawing a current of warm air over racks of the 

 flaked fish, a number of factors make a rigid control of drying quite 

 difficult and at times impossible. These factors (some of which can 

 be controlled) are the humidity of the air, the volume and tempera- 

 ture of the air passing through the drier, the size of the fish, the 

 amount of water they contain, the surface exposure, and the time 



