256 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



smoking. The Eastport bloaters weigh about 25 pounds 

 per 100 fish, being smoked two or three days longer than 

 the Boston bloaters, as they are intended to keep a greater 

 length of time and in warmer climates. They are placed 

 in boxes 18% inches long, 11% inches wide, and 7% inches 

 deep, inside measurement. The thickness of the ends is 

 generally % inch and of other parts % inch, and the cost 

 of boxes approximates $12 per 100. The boxes at Boston, 

 Gloucester, and Portland are usually considerably larger. 

 One barrel of round fresh herring yields about 5 boxes 

 of 100 bloaters each. Those smoked 2% days will keep 

 usually 3 or 4 months under favorable conditions, while 

 those smoked 5 or 6 days will keep until warm weather. 

 Very few bloaters are sold after the month of May. 



"The market for bloaters is principally in Boston, New 

 York, Canada, and the West, and the average wholesale 

 price for those prepared from Newfoundland salted herring 

 is about $1.20 per 100 fish. The Boston-cured bloaters 

 sold in 1859 at $1.25 to $1.50, and in 1865 at $1.80 per 

 100. In 1880, the value of the Eastport bloaters was about 

 95 cents, in 1893, it was 77 cents, and in 1898, is was about 

 80 cents per 100. 



" 



The use of ice in preserving fish in markets has been a 

 practice in this country for three-quarters of a century. 

 It was not until about 1840 that ice was carried in vessels 

 to preserve the fish until market was reached. At first, 

 the method employed was the use of cooling rooms in which 

 the fish were stored. In 1846, it became customary to 

 crush the ice and mix it with the fish. Within the last 

 forty years the practice of carrying ice in vessels that se- 

 cure cargoes of fresh fish has developed greatly. Ice is 

 now carried by vessels engaged in taking cod, haddock, hali- 



i Preservation of Fishery Products by Smoking, Chas. H. Stevenson. 



