COMMEECIAL CANNING OF FOODS. 73 



box, ■n-hicli accommodates 3 cars. The steamer is a rectangular ii'on box, just 

 large enough to admit the cars, and is 25 feet in length. There are a few variations 

 from these sizes, but these are standard. The doors are closed at both ends; steam is 

 tiuTied on until a pressure of 10 pounds is reached, and this is maintained for 5 minutes. 

 The doors are then opened and the oysters allowed to cool quickly in the air. It is 

 important that the oj^ters be steamed well so that there will be no shrinkage in the 

 can, but not long enough to cause them to become crummy. Both the time and the 

 temperature at which the steaming is done seem to have been fixed by experience, 

 as none of the superintendents seemed to know what the effect would be if a lower 

 temperature and longer time or higher temperature and shorter time were given. 



The car of steamed oysters is pushed into the shucking shed, the shuckers standing 

 around the car and worldng until it is emptied. The usual number of shuckers is 

 from five to eight, and they are generally women and children. 



The steamed oyster has the shell partly opened, the meat being easily removed by 

 means of a short, hea\'j^-bladed knife. The oysters are deposited in pans which are 

 hooked to the oyster car. The shucker receives 5 cents for 3^ pounds of selects or 3 

 pounds of standards. The oysters are weighed as received from the shuckers, washed, 

 and placed in cans by weight according to the grade and order. The cans are filled 

 ■with a weak hot brine (2 pounds of salt to 10 gallons of water) frequently by passing 

 the cans through a dip box. This method was used at one time in other lines of can- 

 ning, but has been superseded by more sanitary methods, and should be in this case. 



The cans are capped in the usual manner, either by hand or machine, and are then 

 processed in the retort at 240° F., the No. 1 cans for 12 minutes and the No. 2 for 15 

 minutes. The different packers vary the time a few minutes, but practically all use 

 the same temperature. 



The oysters are cooled as soon as sterilized, and when dry are ready to pack. The 

 oyster is easily sterilized, it is not hard on the can, and there is little loss from spoilage. 



The term "cove" is applied to any canned oyster. It originally meant only the 

 oysters obtained on the western shores of Chesapeake Bay and was distinctive of 

 quality. Gradually any oyster became a cove oyster, and now the term refers to 

 canned oysters irrespective of where they are obtained. 



Salmon. 



Salmon canning on the Pacific coast is one of the large canning industries, and is of 

 so much importance that Government aid is extended in maintaining fish hatcheries 

 in order to keep up the supply. The first salmon canning was done on the Sacramento 

 River in 1864, later on the Columbia River in 1866, in British Columbia in 1874, and 

 in Ala-ska in 1882. The value of the salmon pack on the Pacific coast is more than 

 $10.fXK).0fK) annually. 



There are four species of salmon which have large commercial importance— Onco- 

 rhynchux Uichawi/tsrha, the chinook,quinnat, red spring, or King Alaska; 0. ncrka, the 

 sockeye, V>lueback, or redfish; 0. hsulrh, cohoe, silver, or silver sides; and 0. (jor- 

 busrha. humpbacks or pink Alaska. Preference is given to the bright pink color by the 

 consumer, but for real fjuality the paler cohoe excels some of the others, the flesh being 

 k'^s dry and containing more oil and a better flavor. 



The salmon arc caught in the rivers as soon as practicable after they leave the sea 

 on tlu! way to the spawning grounds. They are caught by nets, seines, traps, and fish 

 wheel.*!. The catching of the fi.sh is done on an elaborate scale, an idea of which may 

 be gained from a brief de.scription of a trap. This consists of a stoel-wiro niitting, 

 starting at the shore and carrif^d out into the stn^ain at an upward angle for a distance 

 of about 2,500 feet. This netting is supporter! by pih-s piac((d aljout 15 U'.ot a[)arl . A t 

 the ouU^T end is a large square compartment known as the pot. This is usually ahout 

 40 by 40 feet and in water as de(!p as 65 feet. This pot contains a <lip lu^t equal to its 

 area. Just previous to reaching the pot the trap is made to zigzag or assuiri<! a heart 

 shape, HO that the fish in trying to pass up the stream will bo direcii.j inin ilic j)ot. 



