12 BULLETIN 150, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



for every position. This may be true or it may be only apparent, but 

 after all it has but a slight bearing on the economy of the industry, 

 as any superfluity in the number of laborers is paid for by the labor 

 contractor and not by the packer. 



Laborers are provided for but one shift per day; therefore the 

 working day can not be considered to be of more than 12 hours. 

 The cannery may operate for a longer period, as the various depart- 

 ments are not operated simultaneously. Thus the dressing gang in- 

 variably begins work before those attending to subsequent operations. 



As the forces are organized with. a view to the maximum daily 

 pack of the cannery, there are usually more laborers than is actually 

 necessary for the average daily pack. Furthermore there are many 

 days preceding the rush of the season when there are no fish at all to 

 pack. At this time there are many things to be done to get the can- 

 nery in readiness for the season's operations, conspicuous among 

 which is the manufacture of the tin cans to hold the fish and the 

 wooden cases to receive the packed cans. But on the whole it may be 

 said that there are frequent periods when one part of the cannery 

 force or another is idle. 



The laborers are organized in the Pacific coast cities of the States 

 and are taken to the canneries frequently in the ships of the oper- 

 ators. For those going to western Alaska it is practically impossible 

 to obtain additions to their force during the operating season. Those 

 operators situated in central and southeast Alaska are on or near 

 steamship lines and can secure additions to their force on compara- 

 tively short notice. The former circumstance makes it necessary for 

 the operators of the western Alaska district to " carry " their corps 

 of employees from the time of their departure from the States to 

 their return. This period includes the time consumed in the ocean 

 voyage in a sailing vessel from the city of their departure to the 

 scene of the summer's activity. 



PRODUCTION OF CANNED SALMON. 



The number of cases of canned salmon packed on the Pacific coast 

 during the season of 1913 is shown, by grades, in Table III. 1 



1 Pacific Fisherman, 12, No. 1 (Special), 36 (1914). 



