PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
377 
with 7 tons of fish, giving an aggregate freezing ca.pacitj^ in the 8 rooms of 56 tons at one time. The 
air intrortnceil in these rooms has a temx>erature of 5° to 10° F., and is changed every 2 or 3 minutes. 
Freezing can he accomplished in 12 to II hours, bnt ordinarily from II to 24 hours are tahen for the 
operation to he completed, depending somewhat on the size of the fish. After the fish are frozen, the 
cars are removed to an elevator and run up to the second floor, where the fish are glazed, being dipped 
in water, and thus covered with a coating of ice about one-sixteenth of an inch thick. This glazing 
is effected by transferring the fish to racks and then dixipiug them in a tank 20 feet long by I feet 
wide, partly filled with water at a temperature several degrees below freezing. The fish are then 
usually wrappied in paper and neatly packed in paper-lined boxes, usually of 250 pounds capacity, 
ready for shipment, and transferred to storage rooms on the third floor, having a capacity for about 
800 tons. 
In addition to the machinery above described, there are two 80-horsepower boilers and two 60- 
horsepower engines, with a fire pump capable of delivering 18,000 gallons of water per hour, an ice 
plant with cax^acity of flO'tons a day, and an auxiliary one with cajiacity of 3 tons daily. The cost of 
the plant is said to approximate ^45,000. The machinery employees number 4, and usually there are 
20 men eiujiloyed in handling the fish. 
PROCESS OF FREEZING AND COLD STORAGE. 
lu freezing’ flsb, as ’well as in preserving most food products, tbe superintendent 
must give close attention to economy of the process as well as to the excellence of the 
product, and the costliness of the best process sometimes prevents its use. To secure 
the very best result, the stock to be frozen should be perfectly fresh and free from 
bruises and blood marks. It improves the appearance, and therefore increases the 
value, if the lish are graded according to size, but that is rarely done. All kinds of 
fish keep and look best when frozen just as they come from the water, with heads on 
and entrails in, and it is better that the fish be not eviscerated before freezing, except 
in case of very large fish, such as sturgeon. But since the freezers receive the surplus 
from the fresh-fish trade, many have been already split and dressed. Generally fish 
that are frozen with heads otf and viscera removed are not strictly fresh ; but this rule 
has many exceptions. 
Whether round or eviscerated, the fish are first washed by dumping them into a 
wash box or trough containing fresh cold water, which is frequently renewed, and 
stirring them about with au oar-shaped paddle or cloth swab to remove the slime, 
blood, etc. Some freezers consider it inadvisable to wash flatfish, because of their 
being too thin. From the wash box the fish are removed by hand and placed in the 
pans, or, better, they are removed with a dip net and deposited in trays situated on a 
pan-filling bench. The bench in use in most of the freezing-houses of this country 
is 12 or 15 feet in length and about 2 feet wide, and at intervals of about 3 feet or so 
there are square trays 3 or 4 inches deep, with lattice bottoms for drainage, in which 
the fish are deposited from the wash tank. On either side of each fish-tray is room 
for a fish-pan, at which stands an operative engaged in filling pans. 
The pans are of various dimensions adapted to the size of the fish usually received. 
In most houses they are about 26 or 28 inches long by 16 or 18 inches wide and 
2 or 3 inches deep, with capacity for about 40 pounds of fish, the material used 
being generally No. 24 Juniata galvanized iron, with the corners turned down, riveted 
and soldered. In some houses much smaller pans are used, the smallest observed 
by the waiter being 16 inches long by 8 inches wide. Generally at each corner in 
the bottom of the pans there is a small round hole for drainage purposes, but some 
pans are made water tight. Bach kind has its advantages. In the tight pan the 
water remaining on the fish from the washing- tank accumulates in the bottom and 
