INSPECTION AND BRANDING OF FISH 67 



given a district over which he is required to travel and act in the 

 capacity of an advisor or instructor, in addition to acting as inspector 

 of the fish when cured. 



Inspection must be carried out at the place where the fish have been 

 packed and while the original packer is still in possession of them. It 

 is held that improvement in curing can only be brought about by bring- 

 ing the inspecting officer and the packer into direct contact in this way. 



When inspection has been applied for, it is carried out in a very 

 thorough manner, and if, as a result of his inspection, the inspecting 

 officer is satisfied that the fish are properly graded and are packed in 

 barrels that conform to the standard called for by the regulations, he 

 brands on the side of each barrel, with a hot iron, a mark in the 

 form of a crown. This crown will show the grade and quality of the 

 fish, the year of packing and a letter representing the name of the 

 inspecting officer. 



Branding a But, it may be asked, how do we expect to improve 



Mark of the seemingly hopeless condition of the pickled-fish 



business without compulsory inspection ? The answer 

 is that, by rigidly enforcing the regulations when fish are submitted for 

 inspection, the brand will become such a guarantee of quality to. the 

 trade that the packer who makes use of it will find his branded fish 

 in demand, while the fish of his neighbour, who hesitates to put them 

 under inspection, will be neglected; and so, in due course, all packers 

 and dealers will become anxious to have the Government brand on 

 their fish. 



Besides inspecting and branding the fish, the Department is adver- 

 tising the brand throughout the United States as well as in our own 

 country; in other words, is letting it be known amongst dealers and 

 consumers exactly what this brand stands for, as a mark of quality, 

 and what is -being done in order to produce a high-grade article. 



Regulations Regulations which take the form of detailed instruc- 

 Give Detailed tions for the guidance of inspecting officers, coopers 

 and packers, as to the construction and capacity of 

 barrels and the quality, curing and packing of the fish, have been 

 printed, and copies distributed all over the coast. The Regulations 

 define the thickness and quality of the staves and heading to be used 

 in barrel-making, the length of the staves, the diameter of the ends 

 and bilge of the barrel, and the manner in which the barrel is to be 

 hooped ; they also define the quality and size of the various grades 

 of fish and the manner in which they should be cured and packed, if 



