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



quality, and (c) a lack of control over the employees. Sardines of 

 the poorest quality are packed in canneries where the methods are 

 inefficient and haphazard, and where very little, if any, supervision 

 is exercised over the labor. 



Rough Treatment. 



At several points in the handling of fish preparatory to packing 

 the fish receive too rough treatment. For instance, they may be 

 scooped from the boats after having settled in a solid mass, whereas 

 the best practice is to float them well in the hold of the boats before 

 bailing them out. Another source of damage is the pulling and 

 mauling the fish receive while on the flakes, particularly when too 

 thickly flaked. 



After the fish are packed in the cans the rough treatment the cans 

 and contents receive has a direct bearing on the final appearance of 

 the sardines. In many cases it was found that the operators in 

 placing the cans upon the tail of the sealing machine inserted their 

 fingers in the packed cans, thus disarranging and marring the con- 

 tents. Sometimes a few cans become crushed, or some trouble with 

 the sealing machine causes spilling. The fish thus lost are repacked, 

 at the close of the day's sealing, constituting an inferior product 

 because of the careless manner in which the sealer, unskilled in pack- 

 ing, does the work. Other commonly found instances of rough treat- 

 ment are: 



Permitting the cans to fall a distance of from 2 to 3 feet from the 

 sealing machine after the covers have been attached. 



The bailing of cans from the "bath" tanks with scoopnets and 

 forcibly throwing the cans on the floor of the cannery. 



Shoveling the cans over in drying and cleaning them with sawdust. 



Tumbling and rattling the cans through revolving sawdust cleaners. 



Shoveling and rolling the cans down too sharply inclined chutes to 

 the shipping rooms. 



Such treatment not only disarranges the fish within a well-packed 

 can, but it may dent the seams of the cans, causing leaks. 



Those packers who maintain a definite quality and who take pains 

 to pack the fish neatly and attractively in the cans clean the exterior 

 of the cans, before shipping, in a careful manner to prevent dis- 

 arrangement of the contents. 



adding the oil. 



Quantity op Oil per Case. 



A series of experiments were conducted on fish of different fat 

 contents, packed in oil at the rate of 1 quart, 1|, 2, 2 \, 3, 3§, and 4 

 quarts per case of 100 cans. Four packs were prepared in quarter 

 oil size key cans. Fish of uniform size were selected from the flakes 



