96 BULLETIN 908, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
greatly reduces the time required for drying, and finally an important 
reason for cutting and eviscerating the fish is that if generally adopted 
it will aid materially in solving the “feedy”’ problem, by the removal 
of the feed and viscera before an advanced stage of decomposition, 
brought about by the bacteria associated with the feed, has been 
reached. 
STANDARDIZATION OF THE SARDINE PACK. 
In order to satisfactorily market any commodity it is essential that 
standards should be established before sales are made. It is then the 
duty of the manufacturer to see that his product complies with the 
standard adopted. At present there are no uniform grades or stan- 
dards for sardines upon which a satisfactory marketing and selling 
arrangement could be based. Although several canners have stan- 
dardized their pack and sell their goods on a basis of quality, the great 
majority have in the past sold their products simply as sardines, 
without reference to their merit. As a result the jobbing trade does 
not look for a definite uniform quality in Maine sardines, but governs 
its purchases by price alone. Such a condition nullifies the attempt 
of those packers who have made an effort to standardize their packs, 
and often forces them to cast a high-grade article in with the poorer 
grades of those who care less for quality than for quantity. 
The greater part of the Maine pack is sold under the distinctive 
name ‘‘standards.”” They may be very good, or they may be inferior, 
and often their quality is unknown to the packer. The jobbing trade 
has become so accustomed to this class of goods that quality is not a 
consideration in the transaction. 
Probably in no other line of goods dees this lack of systematized 
dealing between producer and distributor work more hardship on the 
consumer. Price and the nature of the competition caused thereby 
rule the quality of goods produced, with the result that the whole 
tendency on the scale of quality is downward. 
PROPOSED SPECIFICATIONS. 
The following specifications, based on the division of the pack into 
four subdivisions, is offered as a working basis for a standardization 
of the pack of Maine sardines. 
STANDARDS. 
Cans.—Quarter size only, plain or decorated. 
Fish.—Not less than 5 to a can, preferably 6. Steamed; not 
necessarily eviscerated, though this would insure a better product; 
carefully packed brights up, to make a neat and attractive package. 
Oil.—Prime, summer yellow cottonseed, or corn, not less than 75 
per cent of a gallon (3 quarts) to a case of 100 cans. 
