of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



219 



After standing a minute or two to allow the superfluous oil to drain off, 

 the grille is hung up to cool, when the fish are ready to be ' tinned.' 



In the bottom of the tin a piece of bay leaf and a clove-head or allspice 

 (pimento) seed are placed, two or three hands being specially told off to 

 prepare the tins and pass them on to the packers, who carefully but firmly 

 place the fish in the tins in layers, with their tails right and left alternately. 

 The tins are next passed to the oil-fillers, who fill them up with cold olive 

 oil. After standing sufficiently long to enable the oil to settle down into 

 all the interstices, and filling up if necessary, the tins reach the hands of 

 the tin-men or solderers, who fasten down the lids. This operation requires 

 the greatest care, and is the only one (except the analogous one of making 

 the boxes) which calls for the services of skilled workmen. All the other 

 operations of working and packing, &c, require neatness and dispatch, 

 but need no technical skill; but the smallest air-hole left by the solderer 

 in the joint of a tin will spoil it. 



After closing down, the tins are collected in a crate, and lowered into a 

 large boiler, where they are kept boiling for two or three hours, according 

 to size. This operation serves a triple purpose \ it completely cooks and 

 softens the fish, it expels any remaining air from the tins, and it proves 

 whether or not they are hermetically sealed. On emerging from the boiler 

 all the tins are bulged (bombes), but as they cool they naturally contract — the 

 top and bottom of the tin becoming slightly concave. Any tins, however, 

 which have been imperfectly soldered remain bulged, and are spoiled. 



A rub in sawdust will cleanse the tins, when cool, and they then are 

 ticketed (unless made of ' decorated ' tin plate), and packed in wooden 

 cases ready for the market. 



Having thus described in general outline the method of preserving fish 

 in tins a la sardine, I may perhaps usefully refer to one or two points of 

 detail which it would be well to observe in the arrangement of any factory 

 established for its adoption. 



The buildings should be so arranged that the fish can find their way 

 directly from the hands of those who perform one stage in the process 

 into the hands of those who complete the next stage. The sketch 

 plan (Plate VI.) will serve as a guide to the general arrangement of the 

 premises. The sketch only shows the ground floor ; the upper stories being 

 set apart for the machinery for cutting out and stamping the tin plates for 

 tin-making, for packing the tins in wooden cases, and for storage purposes. 



When necessary, an arrangement of flues from the cooking range and 

 boiler (and even from the soldering room) may be made to utilise the 

 waste heat to assist the drying process. 



The tables on which the grilles are allowed to drain after cooking, and 

 those at which the operation of 1 oiling ' the boxes is carried on, should 

 be covered with tinplate, and fitted with gutters and collectors for 

 saving the waste oil which is marketable. 



The oil should be stored on the floor ■ above, and conveyed to the 

 ' oiling ' tables through a series of pipes with taps, so that the supply 

 may be under immediate control, only olive oil of the best quality should 

 be used. Oil of a second quality may be used for working pui poses. 

 Olive oil adulterated with cotton seed oil, or even the latter alone, is 

 often used in preparing French ' sardines ; 1 but, for the best brands, the 

 best olive oil only is employed. This is the most costly item in the whole 

 process of manufacture. 



In cooking the fish, care should be taken to renew the oil before it 

 becomes thick or discoloured. 



It is hardly necessary to enter here into any further details of the 

 nature of the cooking apparatus employed. 



