154 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 



standard are pushed to the opposite side of the table, where a man 

 stands read}- to supply the requisite amount of fish to fill them. 



For the hand method of filling, a large pile of salmon is thrown upon 

 a long table, making a kind of windrow in the middle from end to 

 end. On either side are from 8 to 10 men who select and put into 

 the cans large pieces of salmon at first, then smaller pieces to .fill all 

 vacant spaces. As the cans are filled they are pushed along the table 

 to the can cleaners and weigher. 



The supply of salmon on the tal)le is constantl}^ being replenished 

 b)^ a man whose duty it is to keep the fillers occupied. In some hand- 

 filling canneries each man has a box at his side, and as often as it 

 is filled he carries it to an adjoining table, where the cans are washed 

 or wiped, as the case ma}- be, weighed, pieces of scrap tin ("chips") 

 put in, and the tops put on. They are then read}^ for the soldering 

 machine. Canneries were m existence a long time before any improve- 

 ment was made in the method of getting the cans from the filling to 

 the weighing and capping table. At the present time, in most can- 

 neries where no filling machines are used, a revolving' belt running in 

 a wooden track about 14 inches above the table carries the filled cans 

 to the weighing and capping table, where a man is stationed to receive 

 them. This simple device is a great saving of labor. 



/Salting. — It is essential that all the cans contain the same amount of 

 salt; otherwise hardly two cases of salmon would have the same flavor. 

 This is an important feature, and one of the earliest things considered 

 in salmon canning. If the eye were the judge of the amount of salt 

 required in the- cans, there would be little or no system connected with 

 this branch of the work, consequenth" mechanical means must be 

 emploj'ed. 



One case of cans is salted at a single movement of the hand, thus: 

 The workman stands in front of a table having a trough connected on 

 the under side, into which slides a tray holding 36 or 48 cans. In the 

 top of the table, corresponding to the number of cans, are holes 

 arranged at equal distances apart, or in such a manner that if the table 

 were filled with cans the center of each would be over one of the holes. 

 On the under side is a sheet-iron plate which slides in a groove at the 

 sides, and is worked either by a hand or foot lever. This plate is 

 perforated with holes corresponding to thos« in the table above. A 

 quantity of salt is thrown on the table, and immediately scraped off 

 with a thin-edged board about 2 feet long and 3 inches wide, each hole 

 being filled in the scraping, and the salt being prevented from falling- 

 through by the iron plate underneath. The lever is then pressed, 

 moving the plate, and the salt falls into the cans below. This opera- 

 tion can be repeated four or five times in a minute, and one man is 

 thus able to keep tlie filling machine supplied with cans. 



