MAINE SARDINE INDUSTRY. 55 
drying for 20 and for 40 minutes. It was apparent that, with this 
particular lot of fish, drying for a period of from 20 to 30 minutes 
under the conditions prevailing would have been sufficient. The 
fish packed after longer periods of drying were too hard, and did not 
make a good appearing or tasting can of sardines. 
The results of these experiments show the wide divergence in the 
quality of sardines packed from fish containing varying amounts of 
water. It is true that at certain times, when the intervals of drying 
are short or conditions for drying the best, no very great difference 
in the packed goods is noticeable. The drying period should be as 
- short as is consistent with securing the proper degree of dryness 
for the product. 
Work still remains to be done in establishing simple tests to deter- 
mine when the proper degree of dryness has been reached. It may 
be suggested here that the weight of a number of fish of uniform size, 
taken from the flakes as they enter the drier, be accurately deter- 
mined. When the weight of an equal number of fish of the same size 
after drying 1s 15 per cent less than the weight of the raw fish, the 
proper state of dryness within the established limits will have been 
reached. 
Oil sardines packed from fish insufficiently dried have a distinctly 
poor appearance. They are soft, and can not be taken readily in a 
whole condition from the can, while the oil surrounding them often 
looks milky and usually contains large drops of water. The taste is 
also decidedly bad, often soapy, a condition probably caused by the 
saponification of a small part of the oil during the sterilizing process 
in the presence of the excessive amount of water in the can. If dried 
too much, the fish become dry, hard, and brittle, and the flavor of 
the oil is strongly predominant. Oil sardines prepared from over- 
dried, hard fish lack the characteristic fish flavor. 
VARIATIONS IN WATER CONTENT OF DRIED FisH TAKEN THE SAME DAY FROM 
DIFFERENT CANNERIES. 
A series of samples were taken from several canneries at practically 
the same time of day, to determine how efficiently the fish were being 
dried, and to ascertain the variations in the degree of drying in the 
different canneries. Three of the canneries from which samples were 
taken were equipped with tunnel driers, one with the Ferris wheel oven 
type, and one with the old-style kiln drier. The time of drying was 
60 minutes, 14 minutes, and 3 minutes, respectively, for the three 
types of driers. 
The description of the samples, the kinds of driers, the conditions 
surrounding drying, and the results of this test are given in Table 26. 
