Seward daily gateway., 1925-12-05

d1scharging, conveying or shoveling, are fully nutritive, although not ac- cepted by the trade. Soft fish, being so tender, are very liable to be in the T. 5. class, for when the thrust and pull of the gibber's knife is made. the tender tissues break, the gills are torn away, and the intestines re- main in the body, the fish having to be ripped or cut if they are extracted.
 There are two conditions of feed the Red and the Black. The latter is more destructive than the former. it being almost impossible to pack the fish thus affected by the Matte Cure. Thousands of barrels of fish have been destroyed in Alaska through ignorance in treating fish thus affected by this feed
 These fish may be successfully hard cured for pickling purposes, if one knows how, but the best results in Iced fish are obtained if they are im- pounded for few days until the feed Is digested. The fish will then be in perfect condition for cure. A packer should pack feed fish only when im- possible to impound, as the proper cure entails double work and expense Incidental to the ordinary cure. The writer prefers the seine to the gillnet, as in the former you can impound your fish, and in the latter you cannot.
 Detail Work Neglected
 Many pack of herring is spoiled through ignorance of small detail. and thousands of barrels of herring have been improperly cured by not extract ing a blood clot from the throat of the hsh, thereby preventing the brine pen etrating into the bellies of the fish. as a Matte herring is cured both in- side and out.
 A pack will also deteriorate should cooper not properly tighten the bar rel, thereby losing the very essential primes. A perfect pack of herring can be made to look imperfect through im- proper shipment. If the barrel is shipped head up instead of the bottom up, all the yellow oils extracted from the fish will float to the head. giving the white bellies of the fish an un- clean appearance. Should the barrels be shipped bottom up the oil floats vice versa, giving the black backs of the herring beautiful appearance. There are many little incidents and details like this unknown to the ayer- age packer which would help him ex- ceedingly on the road to success. but they are too numerous to mention in an article of this length.
 The Celebrated Matte Cure
 There are several selections of fish i'll the celebrated Matte cure-extra large, large and medium A herring must be in first class condition and be neither too old, drowned, washed. bruised nor broken The quantity of salt and strength of the brine are great factors in the Matte cure, as the extra large, large or medium fish re- different salting and percentage of brine, according to their respective se- leectlon. Great care is exercised in the cleaning, selecting and grading. as the fish differ in quality from day to day, the catches coming in to the salt cry from many different schools of herring. The time allowed in the cure must also be considered. In neglect Ing the time process the cure may be too salty, or too mild, too slack or too tight, which refers to fish being too tightly or too slackly packed in the barrels. Correct or proper packing must be supervised and rigidly enforc- ed. The temperature in which the fish are cured must be also consider ed, as herring cures much quicker i'll warm weather than in cold. An employe could work in a saItery for years, and still be unable to discern the vital points necessary to the Matte cure.
 The Reason Why Many Firms Failed
 At the commencement of the 1925 fishing season, Alaska was confront ed with serious problem in the form
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