476 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



described below in detail in the chapter on the sardine industry. It is thought to have been intro- 

 duced into the fisheries of Quoddy River by Nova Scotia fishermen about 1828, since which time 

 it has been quite generally adopted, and weirs have been built at various points along the entire 

 coast of the State, though they have always been more extensively used in the region lying east 

 of Penobscot Bay. 



GILL-NETS. Gill-nets are said to have been used in the fisheries of Digby, Nova Scotia, as 

 early as 1795, but owing to the small size of the fish used for smoking they were not extensively 

 employed along the coast of the United States until very recently. Most of the herring put up in 

 early days were fish ranging from 6 to 9 inches in length, these being so small as to readily pass 

 through the nets of ordinary mesh. Fish of this size have always been thought more desirable 

 than larger ones, and have commanded a better price in the markets. The first large fish 

 smoked were those secured at the Magdalen Islands, and it was not until this fishery had ceased 

 to be important that the large herring along our coast were utilized for smoking. When these 

 fish came to be used nets were very naturally employed in their capture, and the gill-net is now an 

 important apparatus in the fishery. 



5. THE SMOKE-HOUSES. 



HERRING SMOKE-HOUSES. The houses used for smoking herring vary greatly in size, accord- 

 ing to the locality and the amount of business to be done. At first they were very small, some of 

 the fishermen using ordinary barrels or hogsheads for preparing a sufficient amount for their own 

 tables, while others used some old shed or other small building for the purpose. Those engaged 

 more extensively in the business had larger houses, but as a rule these were mere huts made of 

 coarse material and in the rudest manner. They were often so loosely put together as to be 

 seriously injured or entirely destroyed by heavy winds. 



It is not necessary that the houses should be at all elaborate or expensive, and few of the 

 fishermen care to put much money in them as there is much danger of loss from fire, houses being 

 very frequently burnt through the negligence of the person in charge. Some of the fishermen of 

 late are building houses of a better class, but even now a majority of them are quite crude. As a 

 rule a site is selected on the shore in the vicinity of some boat-landing, but the fishermen occa- 

 sionally build on their own land near their homes on account of the greater convenience in caring 

 for the fish. The houses are without floors and consist simply of rough board walls with a 

 gabled roof of the same material, every crack being battened with slabs or sheeting, both to 

 render the building water tight and to prevent the smoke from escaping. As a protection against 

 fire, many of the larger houses are lined with brick or mud on the inside to a height of several 

 feet. Each house is provided with board windows or longitudinal openings on either side, while 

 in the more modern ones an opening is also made along the ridge-pole and covered with boards so 

 arranged that they can be raised or lowered by means of cords attached to levers. These answer 

 as ventilators, and it is often necessary to keep most of them open to prevent the fish from being 

 ruined from excessive heat. The interior construction is very simple. It consists merely of a 

 series of rows of " two by four" pine stringers or scantlings, one above the other, extending from 

 near the ridge-pole to within 6 to 8 feet of the floor. These scantlings are 13 to 14 inches apart 

 and are 38 inches distant from the rows on either side. The space between two adjoining vertical 

 rows is called a "bay," and the size of the smoke-house is reckoned by the number of "bays" that 

 it contains, these varying from 5 to 12. The capacity is in proportion to the size, small smoke- 

 houses holding only 1,000 or 2,000 boxes, while the largest contain 8,000 or even 10,000. A smoke- 

 house of average size is about 18 feet wide by 30 feet long, with the ridge-pole 25 to 30 feet from 



