53G 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
miller slieltor in a dry atuiospliere in wet weather, and in a free current of air, till the fish are thor- 
onglily dry. The (jrille is then taken to the cooking stove. This consists of a series of shallow pans 
(each large enough to hold a grille full of fish) containing boiling olive oil, in which the fish are 
cooked. This will take from 2 to 3 minutes, according to the size. 
After standing ,a minute or two, to allow the suiierllnous oil to drain off, the grille is hung up to 
cool, when the fish are readj' to he tinned. In the bottom of the tin a piece of hay leaf and a clove 
head or allspice (pimento) seed are placed, 2 or 3 hands being specially told off to prepare the tins 
and pass them on to the packers, who carefully hut firmly place the fish in the tins in layers, 
with their tails right and left alternately. The tins are next passed to the oil fillers, who fill them 
up with cold olive oil. After standing sulficiently long to enable the oil to settle down into all the 
interstices, and filling up, if necessary, the tins reach the hands of the tinmen or solderers, who fasten 
down the lids. This operation requires the greatest care, and is the only one (except the analogous 
one of making the boxes) which calls for the services of skilled workmen. All the other operations 
of working and packing, etc., require neatness and dispatch, but need no technical skill; hut the 
smallest air-hole left hy the solderer in the joint of a tin will spoil it. 
After closing down, the tins are collected in a crate and lowered in a large boiler, where they are 
kept lioiling for 2 or 3 hours, according to size. This operation serves a triple purpose — it completely 
cooks aud softims the fish, it expels any remaining air from the tins, and it proves whether or not 
they are hermetically sealed. On emerging from the boiler, all the tins are bulged, hut as they 
cool they naturally contract, the top and bottom of the tin becoming slightly concave. Any tins, 
however, which have been imperfectly soldered remain bulged and are spoiled. A rub in sawdust 
will cleanse the tins, when cool, and they then are ticketed (unless made of decorated tin plate) and 
packed in wooden cases ready for the market. 
Having thus described in general outline the method of preserving fish in tins a la sardine, I may 
perhaps usefulljT refer to two points of detail which it would he well to observe in the arrangement of 
any factory established for its adoption. 
The buildings should he so arranged that the fish can find their way directly from the hands of 
those who perfoim one stage in the process into the hands of those who complete the next stage. 
When necessary, an arrangement of Hues from the cooking range and boiler (and oven from the solder- 
in<>' room) may he made to utilize the waste heat to assist the drying process. The tables ou which 
the grilles are allowed to drain after cooking, and those at which the oiieration of “oiling” the boxes 
is carried on, should he covered with tin plate and fitted with gutters and collectors for saving waste 
oil, which is marketable. The oil should be stored ou the floor above aud conveyed to the “oiling” 
tables through a series of pipes with taps, so that the supply may bo under immediate control. Only 
olive oil of the best quality should he used. Oil of a second quality may he used for working 
purposes. Olive oil adulterated with cotton-seed oil, or even the latter alone, is often used in 
preparing French “ sardines,” hut for the best brands the best olive oil only is employed. This is 
the most costly item in the whole process of manufacture. In cooking the fish, care should be taken 
to renew the oil before it becomes thick or discolored. 
For soldering the tins the only special apparatus required consists of an ingenious Imt simple 
turn-table revolving on a pivot and furnished at the top with a “cage,” into which the tin fits closely 
while tlie top is being soldered. A footplate at the bottom enables the workman to rotate the table 
at will while, with the soldering iron in one hand and a thin stick of solder in the other, he rapidly 
closes the “joint” between the body of the box and the lid. As already stated, this operation is the 
crucial one in the whole process of preparation. In order to keep a check on ditt'erent workmanship, 
it is usual to pay the tinmen so much for every 100 boxes “made” aud “soldered down,” and to 
deduct so much for every tin that remains bulged after boiling. As a means of identification, each 
workman marks the tins ho makes aud the lids he solders down with a S2)ecial mark, aud it is easy for 
the foreman, when examining and counting the tins, to check the number turned out by each work- 
imiu and to trace to its author every flaw tliat leads to the rejection of a tin. 
Other methods of making aud closing tins are being introduced, and in this and various other 
details the process of preparing fish a la sardine is open to modification. The system .above described, 
however, is that commonly adopted in France, aud was snccessfully applied hy me to the preparation 
of pilchards in Cornwall. In some French sardine factories the fish are b.aked in hot ovens, instead 
of being boiled in oil. Occasionally, again, the fish, whether baked or boiled in oil, are soldered down 
as soon as packed, without the addition of oil in the tins. Sometimes the fish are not subjected to any 
