THE SMOKED-HERRING INDUSTRY. 483 



dition, the result being- that many of them spoiled before reaching their destination. This in many 

 cases resulted in a direct loss to the fishermen and dealers, as country purchasers refused to pay 

 for them. But a greater injury to the trade was found in the fact tbat the former customers find- 

 ing the herring so inferior in quality sought other articles of food as a substitute. 



Several years of depression followed, many who had formerly engaged extensively in the busi- 

 ness allowing their smoke-houses to remain idle rather than incur the risk of loss. Within the last 

 few years, however, the trade has been somewhat revived, and a better feeling exists among the 

 dealers, while the demand in New England and in certain portions of the West is gradually 

 increasing. Boston, however, has lost much of her former influence, and New York now ranks as 

 the important market, handling over half of the herring smoked in the Quoddy River region. 



PRICES. In the early part of the century, according to Mr. McGregor, the price realized by the 

 fishermen for the regular half-bushel boxes varied from $1 to $1.25. From 1830 to 1850, according 

 to the same authority, the average price was about $1.10 for scaled herring, 80 cents for number 

 ones, and 35 to 40 cents for number twos. From this time the price was gradually reduced, though 

 perhaps not in proportion to the size of the box, for during the " war-period" boxes no longer than 

 those employed at present sold as high as 30 to 40 cents. From this date the price (taking the 

 paper currency as a standard) decreased rapidly for a number of years, and fish of good quality 

 often sold as low as 7 and 8 cents per box. Later, Vith the revival of the trade, it again improved, 

 until, in 1880, it ranged between 12 and 25 cents, according to the quality of the fish, good scaled 

 herring averaging fully 22 cents, while the lower grades usually sold at 15 or 16 cents. 



8. FURTHER PREPARATION OF SMOKED HERRING. 



EUROPEAN METHODS. Most of the smoked herring are eaten with no further preparation than 

 that received in the smoke-house at the hands of the fishermen; but recently attempts have been 

 made by enterprising European houses to render them yet more palatable before finally placing 

 them upon the market. In several European countries smoked herring are now packed in oil in 

 small tin cans which, when properly filled, are at once hermetically sealed. 



In Finland, according to Mr. Wallem, the round fish are salted just enough to give them flavor, 

 after which they are lightly smoked. The heads, tails, and entrails are next removed, the roe 

 being left in. They are then placed in tin boxes, just long enough to receive them and large 

 enough to contain about twenty small fish, and covered with olive oil. When filled, the boxes 

 are carefully sealed and sent to the bath, where they remain in boiling water for some time, and 

 after venting and cooling are ready for the market. As far as known, nothing is done in this 

 line within the limits of the United States, though other kinds of smoked fish are sometimes 

 canned. 



A less praiseworthy innovation, and one which we are glad to say is unknown among the 

 dealers of the United States, has been made by European ingenuity, which, not content with the 

 slow process of smoking, has at last discovered a way by which the fish can be prepared without 

 the aid of smoke. Mr. Wallem alludes briefly to the subject, saying : 



" There are manufacturers who injure the smoking business by manufacturing smoked herring 

 which have not been near smoke. The mystery or humbug consists in covering the herring with 

 a specially prepared yellowish-brown varnish or oil which imparts to the herring a little of a 

 smoky flavor, and sometimes the imitation is so good as to deceive even experienced persons.'' 

 This imitation, however, can hardly represent the hard herring of our country. It must rather be 

 intended as a counterfeit of the bloater, which is discussed below in this chapter. 



AMERICAN METHODS. Little is done in the further preparation of the herring within the 



