PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
381 
boxes are not used the flsh are dipped by hand in a tank of water after removal from 
the iians. In some houses the frozen blocks of tish after removal from the pans are 
dipped, then cross-piled in the cold-storage rooms, and on the following day, or even 
the second day after, are again dipped in cold water in order to form a thicker coating. 
After the blocks of tish are coated with ice they are passed to the cold-storage 
room, where they are ranged in neat piles, the blocks being placed vertically in some 
houses, but more frequently they are ranged horizontally in piles extending from the 
tioor nearly to the ceiling. Strips 2 or 3 inches thick are laid on the floor to keei) the 
tish slightly elevated and allow the cold air to circulate underneath. 
Care must be exercised in piling the frozen blocks, lest the piles sag and tumble 
down. When the room is lofty, to avoid heavy pressure on the lower blocks, a platform 
or floor is arranged about one-half the height of the ceiling, on which the upper blocks 
of fish rest. A better way of storing the flsh is to pack them in boxes, 3 or 4 blocks 
to the box, and place these in the storage room. While placing the flsh in storage, 
care must be taken to avoid raising the temperature of the room by the admission 
of warm air. This is usually accomplished by keeping the door closed as much as 
possible and in some cases by arranging a woolen flap over the entrance to prevent 
the admission of a current of air, or by having in the door to the storage room an 
opening just large enough to permit the passage of the packages of flsh. 
The quantity of ice and salt required in the establishments which use those mate- 
rials in the storage rooms is dependent on the outside temi^erature and the excel- 
lence of the wall insulation and is independent of the amount of frozen flsh in the 
room, requiring no more freezing material to keep 5(f tons of frozen flsh at an even 
temperature than to keep 2 tons in a room of equal size. With 16-iuch or 18-inch 
walls well insulated, it requires the melting of about 40 pounds of ice per day for each 
100 square feet of wall surface when the outside temperature is 60° F. to maintain a 
temperature of 18° F. inside, this calculation leaving the oi)eniug of doors and the 
cooling of fresh material out of consideration. All calculatious as to the quantity of 
ice used in ice-aud-salt freezing are based on tlie use of natural ice, for artiflcial ice 
is rarely used in those freezers. Since artiflcial ice is usually colder than natural ice, 
less would be required. The temperature in the storage room should be constant, and 
about 16° or 18° F. is considered the most economical. Above 20° the flsh are likely to 
turn yellow about the livers, a result generally attributed to the bursting of the “gall.” 
The storage room should be free from moisture, since the latter offers a favorable 
place for the settlement and development of micro-organisms of all kinds, which tend 
to mold the flsh. To reduce excessive moisture, a pan of uuslaked lime, chloride of 
calcium, or other hygroscopic agency, may be placed in the room, the material being 
renewed as exhausted. If the storage rooms are very moist, they should be dried out 
before storing flsh in them, this being readily accomplished by using a small gas, 
coke, or charcoal stove. The storage rooms using ammonia may be dried by passing 
hot water through the pipes, which of course should, under no circumstances, be done 
when there are flsh in the rooms. In case of mold appearing on the flsh it might be 
well to try spraying them with a solution of formalin, which is a 40 per cent solution 
of formaldehyde gas in water. The solution, containing 10 parts of formalin and 90 
parts of water, should be sprayed over the flsh at the first sign of mold. 
All flsh deteriorate to some extent in cold storage, depreciating both in flavor 
and flrmness. The amount of this decrease is dependent primarily on the condition 
