BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 179 
together and insert the bottom. In some of the factories solder wire is 
used for this purpose; in others, the old-fashioned stick-solder is much 
preferred. Some of the small factories do not make their own cans, but 
purchase their supply from one of the larger ones. 
After the cans have been filled with fish they go to the sealers, who 
solder on the covers, making them perfectly air-tight. The filled cans 
are then ready for bathing, and are placed in boiling water, where they 
are allowed to remain for about two hours. 
It was formerly considered necessary to puncture all the cans after the 
bath had been completed, to allow the remaining air to escape, the 
aperture being then closed with solder. It has been found that by the 
use of slightly concave covers this necessity may be done away with, as 
all of the air is driven out in sealing, and the custom has now become 
obsolete in the case of cans of the ordinary quarter size, though it is still 
adhered to in the treatment of the half and three-quarter cans. 
Formerly all of the sardines packed on the American coast were 
sold under French labels, but the better practice of using American 
labels, showing by what firm they have been put up, is now rapidly gain- 
ing" ground. This has been brought about principally by a law recently 
enacted by the New York legislature, forbidding the sale in that State 
of any canned goods not bearing the name of the maker. The fish 
sold under honest labels are of better quality than those pretending to 
be of French origin, as the factory owners allow only their best prod- 
ucts to go upon the market under their firm name, and pack the stale or 
broken fish under the fictitious French labels which do not throw upon 
them any responsibility. 
The description given above of the methods of preparation applies 
equally to all the different brands of sardines properly so-called. The 
favorite variety is the u quarter oil,” the smallest sized can of oil-packed 
fish. When the fish are too large for use in this way, they are put up 
in half-pound cans, or much more frequently, with mustard in the 
place of oil, in three-quarter cans. Occasionally three-quarter cans of 
oil sardines, half cans of mustard sardines, three-quarter cans in tomato 
sauce, and half or three-quarter cans in spices are put up, and in rare 
instances small fish are put up in mustard or spices in quarter cans. 
In 1885 the pack of oil sardines was smaller than usual owing to the 
scarcity of small fish suitable for quarter cans. A few experiments have 
been made in the canning of smelt as a substitute for herring in the 
manufacture of sardines, but they were found to be dry and hard, and 
deficient in flavor, and efforts in this line have been discontinued. 
Two or three factories still retain the practice of putting up a few cans 
annually of large herring in cans bearing the trade name of u brook 
trout,” but as this brand has never been received with any favor, the 
quantity put up has been decreasing year by year. 
The manufacture of Russian sardines is still an important part of the 
business. They are made of fish of a size somewhat larger than those 
