PRESERVATION OE FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
403 
tail bone is frequently left in, and sometimes the nape bones also, this being known 
as “dressed flish.” Hake and haddock are the easiest lish to prepare, and cusk are 
the most difficult. The cost of skinuiug and boning ranges from 25 to 40 cents per 
100 pounds of prepared lish, depending on the class of fish handled. 
The ordinary knives for catting boneless fish have hook-tipped blades from 0 to 7 
inches in length, with white-pine handles. For cutting cusk, which have tough bones 
and skins, a special knife is required, called a “cusk-bone knife,” the blade of which is 
of finely tempered steel, about 1| inches long, § inch wide, and ineh thick at the 
back, with a square end. The handle is about 4^ inches long by 14 inches thick at the 
butt, tapering to a point at the blade end. 
The following summary shows the result (in pounds) from skinning and boning a 
quintal of the various grades of fish : 
1 
Condition. 
Large 
Georges 
Cod. 
Large 
Bank or 
Shore 
Cod. 
Small 
Georges 
Cod. 
Small 
Hank or 
Sliore 
Cod. 
Had- 
dock. 
Hake, i 
Cusk. I 
J 
Pollock. ! 
Tail and nape bones in 
Tail bone in. nape bone.8 out. . 
Tail and nape bones out 
Founds. \ 
96 
93 
88 
Founds. 
95 
92 
87 
Pounds. 
91 
85 
83 
Founds. 
90 
85 
82 
Pounds. 
90 
82 
Pounds. 
91 
85 
Pounds. 
82 
I’ounds. i 
97 
94 
1 
After being skinned and boned the fish are sprinkled with an antiseptic powder 
composed principally of boracic acid and chloride of sodium or common salt, and 
placed in many sizes and styles of packages, containing from 500 pounds down to 2 
pounds. The boxes are made of spruce or pine, and the small ones, 5 pounds and 
under, usually have a sliding cover. The most popular sizes are 40 and 00 pound 
boxes, the dimensions of the former being usually 20 inches by 12 inches by 5 inches, 
inside measurement, and of the latter 20 inches by 12 inches by 8 inches, inside. In 
the larger-size boxes the fish are usually placed without being cut. A neat way is to 
place two halves together, as in the round fish. Others are loosely rolled and placed 
with the shoulders at the ends of the box and the tails overlapping, and choice 
Georges fish look very nice in that manner. Frequently when i)acked in the 40 or GO 
pound boxes each individual fish is cut transversely the width of the box and folded 
over itself. Thick fish are sometimes cut transversely and each piece split and folded 
over in such a manner that the clean cut appears outside. The fish are also sometimes 
cut transversely across the fiber, and tightly packed in boxes with the fiber running 
perpendicularly. In the small boxes the fish must of course be cut in much smaller 
pieces. The 5-pound boxes usually measure 10 inches by 8 inches by 4 inches. 
During the past fifteen years the iiacking of boneless codfish in l-iiound and 
2-pound “bricks” has become very popular. The skinned and boned fish are cut into 
small pieces 0 inches long and 3 inches wide, as nearly as practicable, the cutting being 
done either by hand, by treadknives, or by special machinery. Two pounds weight 
of these are carefully placed in press compartments G inches long by 3 inches wide 
and 3^ inches deep, care being taken to have choice square pieces at the bottom and 
at the top, and either two or four strings of cotton twine are run through slits in the 
compartment, so as to pass under and around the brick of fish. The fish are then 
tightly compressed for a few moments, and on removing the compression the strings 
are tied and the brick is removed. Many forms of presses are employed, the most 
usual consisting of a sliding box having two or three compartments, each of the size 
