20 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
the city’s peanut supply are Bombay, Mozambique, and Senegal, although large quantities are received 
from other places. 
In the Marseilles crushing mills for handling the peanuts, the shells are broken by means of 
toothed rollers and the kernels separated by a.system of winnowing machines, such as are used in flour 
mills. The inside red skin is then removed by revolving sieves and air blasts, and the kernels are 
ground, after which they are ready to be pressed. The pressing takes place in the same manner in 
which other oleaginous seeds are pressed, the meal being enveloped in strong fibrous mats and 
subjected to hydraulic pressure. The resulting cake is then reground, the oil remaining in the meal 
secured as in the first instance. The oil is graded according to first, second, or third extraction. This 
oil, after being clarified by filtration and the admixture of fuller’s earth, is put on the market and 
used as an illuminant, and more extensively as an adulterant in olive oil, in which latter field its 
chief competitor is cottonseed oil. 
The cake left is sometimes chemically treated to secure the oil that may have escaped the presses, 
but whether thus treated or not, it is valuable as a food for cattle. The husks are sometimes used for 
fuel, and they have some value as fodder, although goats are about the only animals that will eat them 
when not mixed with the peanut cake. 
Sesame oil comes from Egypt, and costs about 80 francs per 100 kilograms. 
There are various other ingredients with which or in which the sardines are 
packed to give them flavor or piquancy. Some of the very best goods are prepared 
with melted butter of good quality instead of oil; these are mostly for special French 
trade. Tomato sauce, pickles, and truffles are also used. With all of these the 
sardines are packed precisely as when oil is employed and in cans of the same sizes. 
Only relatively small quantities of such goods are prepared. 
When the fish reach the packing room, the women who had been cutting will 
probably have finished that task and are seated at a table ready to take up the 
packing of the sardines in tin boxes; they carefully place the fish in the cans, and 
then pass them along to another set of women who fill the boxes with oil from a faucet 
or with other materials used with the sardines — tomato sauce, mustard, truffles, etc. 
In some countries (United States) the trade demands that the blue back of the 
sardines be uppermost when the box is opened; while for other countries (France, 
Belgium) the white belly should be uppermost. The position of the fish when the top 
of the can is removed by the consumer is reversed in packing, as what is the bottom 
of the can from the packers’ standpoint is in reality the top. 
With most of the oil sardines a small quantity of spices is used in order to 
impart a flavor. The usual ingredients for each can are 1 or 2 cloves, quarter or 
half of a laurel leaf, and a small piece of thyme; these are put in the can before the 
fish, so that they will be on top when the can is opened. The fresh leaves of tarragon 
{estragon) are sometimes used. 
Sardines are packed in tin boxes of a large varietj^ of sizes and shapes, some of 
which are well known to the American public, while others do not enter into the 
general trade here. Among the kinds which have received special designations are 
the “quart bas,” “quart haut,’' “ demi,” “huitieme,” and “triple.” The “quart” 
can is the standard. It ordinarily contains 12 to 1-f fish, but sometimes as many as 
20 and sometimes only 6 or 8. The “demi” is twice as large as the “quart,” and 
the “huitieme” is only half as large; while the “triple” contains 12 times as much 
as the “quart.” Lozenge-shaped and boat-shaped cans (which are protected by 
patent) are also employed by a few companies; and some factories put up fish in 
glass vessels. The standard wooden cases in which the cans are packed and sent to 
market contain 100 “quarts,” 200 “ huitiemes,” 50 “ demis,” etc. 
