MAINE SARDINE INDUSTRY. 115 
moved by efficient pressing of the raw material. In pressing there 
is this to be gained, that, if the material has been steam cooked, 
part of the water is also removed, thus making the time of drying 
shorter. 
Based on a pack of 1,800,000 cases, and assuming that the entire 
amount of waste would be made into fish-meat meal, and 20 cases are 
obtained per hogshead, with 14 tons of waste for each 15 hogsheads 
of fish, and that the yield of meal is 25 per cent of this amount, the 
following amount of meal could be prepared from the waste in the 
sardine industry: 1,875 tons of meal, which at from $40 to $45 per 
ton would have an approximate value of $80,000. An estimate based 
on 14 tons waste per 10 hogsheads would yield 13,500 tons of waste, 
which at 25 per cent yield of meal would amount to 3,375 tons. This 
at $40 per ton would produce a revenue of $135,000. On a basis of 15 
gallons of oil per ton of waste there would be in this case 202,500 gal- 
lons of oil, which at 20 cents per gallon would be $40,500. Ona basis of 
10 gallons of oil per ton the revenue on the oil at 20 cents per gallon 
would amount to $27,000. In round numbers, it is safe to estimate 
that the utilization of the waste material, such as could now be 
obtained from the packing of sardines, would yield 3,000 tons of meal 
and 200,000 gallons of oil. The oil produced in this way is a very 
superior grade of fish oil, far superior to the ordinary grades. At the 
1916 prices of fish oil the oil obtained from rendering the sardine 
waste should amount to a sum more than sufficient to defray the cost 
of manufacturing the dried meal. 
As a result of this work a system has been installed in one of the 
canneries for utilizing the waste for fish meal for animal feeding 
purposes. Reports received indicate that this effort has been very 
successful. 
ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS. 
BUYING FISH FOR THE CANNERIES. 
At present the fish are sold at auction by the owner of the weir, 
often creating keen competition between the various boatmen who 
act as the packers’ agents. Within certain limits the boatmen are 
free to bid up the purchase price. As the packer pays the boatman 
a certain sum for each hogshead of fish transported, the boatman 
often is tempted to receive this fare without sufficieat regard to the 
quality of the fish or the price asked for them. It would seem most 
advisable, therefore, to place stricter limitations upon the price the 
boatmen may bid for the fish, and to refuse to accept fish which are 
too poor to pack. 
NUMBER OF FISH, OF VARIOUS SIZES, PER HOGSHEAD (1,000 POUNDS). 
The unit of measure in the Maine sardine industry, the hogshead, 
is considered in practice to hold approximately 1,000 pounds. Ten 
tubs of fish of specific dimensions constitute a hogshead. It was 
