104 BULLETIN 8, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The maximum waste, two-thirds-of which is edible, was found to be 
60 per cent in cutting 8-inch fish with the tails untrimmed, according 
to present practices, to pack in the ordinary low-quarter can (PI. 
XXII, fig. 2). Fish of this size, cut in this manner, pack only four to 
the can. Tons of. good food material obtained in this way (PI. 
XXII, fig. 2, left-hand pan) are emptied into scows to be carried 
away to be made into fertilizer, or are simply thrown away. | 
When 8-inch fish, with the tails trimmed, are cut and packed in 
the ordinary can, the waste of edible material is reduced to 24 per 
cent, a saving of 17 per cent of edible material (Pl. XXIII, fig. 1). It 
makes, however, only a 4-fish can. Practically the same amount of — 
waste of edible material, 23 per cent, is obtained when 8-inch fish, with 
the tails untrimmed, are cut to pack in the high-quarter long can 
(Pi. XXII, fig. 2). Fish of this size, with the tails untrimmed, when 
packed in the longer can, make a 5-fish can, which is more desirable 
from all standpoints than the 4-fish can. Plate XX, figures 3 and 4, 
shows an ordinary low-quarter can and the suggested larger can, 
packed with 8-inch fish. When packed with fish of this size, the 
smaller can holds only four pieces, whereas the larger can holds five 
fish, the entire edibie portion of which is utilized. 
The waste thus shown is all the more deplorable when the fact is 
considered that the fish have already gone through the greater part 
of the process and need only to be placed in cans of the proper size 
to be entirely utilized. 
From the packers’ standpoint, a legitimate objection to the adop- 
tion of cans radically different in dimensions from those in ordinary 
use may be raised. The appliances for handling, and the machinery 
adapted for sealing the cans are standardized. The use of this new 
longer.can would necessitate a refitting of the carrying table, the 
chuck, and headpiece of the sealing machinery, which in certain 
cases would be an expensive undertaking. The old typesingle spindle 
machine, which is fed by hand and would require only a chuck and 
headpiece in order to adapt it for use with this can, could, however, 
be used. In several of the canneries some of these old type closing 
machines are now in use; in others they are stored away. An effort 
to introduce sardines in these larger cans to the trade could be made 
to good advantage. 
The fact that the objectionable3- and 4-fish cans of domestic sardines 
would be eliminated should make worth while the use of the larger 
cans. 
Other cans now in use, notably the high-quarter and the half-oil 
size, may be employed to effect a saving of part, at least, of the waste 
just discussed. There appears to be no mechanical difficulty in pack- 
ing, sealing, and preparing for shipment the high-quarter and half- 
oil cans (Pl. IX). The high-quarter cans are a very desirable size 
