28 Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. 1920. 



Scallops. 



The scallop situation is much like that of clams. The fish- 

 ermen claim that it is necessary to wash the scallops in fresh 

 water to remove the scum-like coating from them. If this 

 washing did not increase both the weight and the bulk of the 

 scallops the fisherman would loubtless do all of the washing in 

 salt water. 



One sample of scallops that v/as purchased in December 

 from the Portland Public Market was said to come from the 

 Gloucester Fish Company, Gloucester, Mass. While this did 

 not run as high in solids as we would, expect good Maine scal- 

 lops to, this was probably due to the fact that the scallops had. 

 been washed in fresh water and also carried too much liquid. 



Raisins. 



A complaint that seeded raisins contained considerable grit 

 led to the collection of quite a number of samples. While most 

 of the samples examined carried no more insoluble ash than 

 one would expect in raisins, quite a number of samples were 

 found to have from three-quarters to i per cent of sand. Upon 

 investigation it was found that this was due to the fact that 

 when the raisins were drying there was a heavy sand storm and 

 they were not properly cleansed afterward. Relative to the 

 brands that were thus contaminated, these are not given, because 

 samples from exactly the same brand were found to be free from 

 sand. This case was cleared up by the Chief of the Bureau of 

 Inspections as well as it could be. These goods had ' become 

 intermixed within the State and it was not possible to make 

 Federal cases. As it is commonly known, the grapes. are dried 

 in California in the open air and are subject to contamination. 

 It is not likely that raisins will again come to the market so- 

 heavily loaded with sand. 



