392 
BULLETIN OF TPIE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
The fish are then washed in tubs of sea water or by sousing water over them, 
especial care being taken to clean the neck, the remaining' portion of the backbone, 
and the vicinity of the dorsal fins, and to remove the dark membrane that adheres to 
the napes. Even if the fish are dressed on shore, sea water is preferred for washing 
them, as fresh water has a tendency to make them slimy. In washing them in tubs 
the water should be changed frequently to prevent its becoming foul. 
After the splitting and washing, with the subsequent draining, comes the salting, 
which is accomplished in two ways, forming the kench cure and the pickle cure. In 
the former the fish are placed with dry salt in regular piles or kenches, and the pickle 
which forms is allowed to run off, leaving the fish dry, and in the pickle cure the fish 
are salted in butts or barrels which retain the brine. The kench cure makes a drier 
product and one suitable for export to hot climates, but is rarely used in the United 
States except in combination with the pickle cure. Generally in this country the fish 
are salted in kenches on board vessel and in butts on shore. 
In the Grand Banks fisheries, the fish, after draining, are jiassed to the salter in 
the hold of the vessel. Grasping each fish by the tail, he throws it upon the kench 
or pile, flesh side or face up, and with a small scoop sprinkles over it a quantity of salt. 
The kenches are up in regular order, the fish being laid head to tail, spread out 
flat, with the back or skin down. 
Salting requires considerable skill, the fish spoiling from insufficient salt and 
deteriorating in flavor from an excess. As a rule, the less amount of salt required 
for preserving the fish the better, but the salt should not be used sparingly. Some 
fishermen, in order to make their fish weigh heavy, put on too little salt and at times 
lose the fish as a result. Thin fish require much less salt than thick ones, and less salt 
is necessary in cold weather than in warm. Also those fish which are to remain a long- 
time before being used require more than those to be marketed quickly. Experience 
is the only guide, but as a rule an even layer of salt thoroughly covering the fish and 
leaving no vacant places or finger marks is sufficient. Coarse salt is preferred to fine, 
especially for fish that are not to be marketed for a considerable length of time, as it 
does not go to brine so quickly. Formerly Cadiz salt, by which name all the Spanish 
salts are called in this country, was used, but during recent years Trapani salt has 
been employed almost exclusively, the use of the former being abandoned on account 
of its abundance of lime, which settles on the fish, and also its greater tendency to 
impart to the fish a reddish color, attributed to some vegetable, matter contained in 
tbe salt, which develops rapidly during warm, moist weather. On an average, 1 
bushel of Trapani salt is used to each hundredweight of fish in the Georges fishery, 
while the Grand Banks fishery usually requires bushels to the hundredweight of 
fish. Vessels engaged in the latter fishery usually carry about 200 hogsheads of salt 
in pens or compartments, each pen holding 15 or 20 hogsheads, and as the pens are 
emptied of salt they are used for storing the fish. The Georges Banks vessels, being- 
absent a much shorter length of time, do not carry so much salt. 
The fish remain in kenches until the vessel arrives in port, care being taken that 
no water reaches them. If the vessel is absent three or fourMionths those fish caught 
during the first month or so are generally i ekenched and additional salt sprinkled 
among- them if it appears necessary. As the pickle accumulates and is driven out 
from the fish in the middle and lower parts of the kenches by the pressure of those 
above, the vessel must be i)umped out frequently. Some fisherman claim that they 
