330 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
pots ; fish were said to be worth so much per pot one day, and so much 
another day. This measurement was also found very convenient by 
the fisherman, as in case they had not enough prime fish at the end of 
their packing to fill a half-pad they still put it into a half-pad basket 
and called it a pot. At one time pot baskets were used, but they have 
beeu long given up. Formerly speculative dealers used to bargain with 
some of the fishermen to take all their prime fish at so much per pot, 
and then a pot was to weigh 40 pounds; but a half-pad (two pots) sub- 
sequently came to weigh from 80 to 120 pounds, the difference being 
caused by the fish being more or less piled up on the top of the basket. 
A further change was made by the introduction of wooden boxes called 
‘ trunks/ and they were used especially for the package of soles, a trunk 
or box of soles usually containing from sixty to seventy pairs, weighing 
about 100 pounds. 1 Plaice and haddocks are also packed in them, 
about forty of the latter, when sold for the fresh market, going to the 
4 box.’ ” 
Fig. 18. 
( b ). Ice Mill. 
Most of the North Sea trawling vessels, especially those which go 
u single boating” a portion of the year, carry an ice mill which is used 
for grinding up the ice that the fish are packed in. This mill is gener- 
ally secured to a bulkhead in the ice-house below deck. It has three 
revolving barrels fitted with strong steel teeth and is operated by a 
crank-wheel, which, by a system of connecting cog-wheels, causes the 
ir The more general adoption of the wooden box called the “trunk,” as a package 
for all kinds of fish on trawlers, is probably due to the system of “fleeting,” since 
these boxes are more readily handled and stowed than baskets could be under like 
conditions. 
