HERRING AS AN ARTICLE OF TRADE, 189 



fore it is salted, is not too much exposed to the heat of the sun, for this 

 soon spoils it. In summer, therefore, every boat ought to be furnished 

 with sufficient tarpaulin to cover the fish while returning home. It is 

 also very useful to have in the boat a large tub or vessel with crushed 

 ice, in which tbe fish should be placed immediately after it is caught, as 

 this keeps it quite fresh until salt can be applied. Those fish which 

 have been brought to market fresh, and exposed for some time to the 

 sun, cannot be used for salt fish, since, as a general rule, the fish are 

 more or less injured while being transported to the market. Another 

 imporiant rule in preparing any kind of fish is to preserve the greatest 

 possible cleanliness. Care should be taken not to let fish-refuse or other 

 objectionable matter lie around in the salting-houses, or in the tubs or 

 vessels used for salting. Old biine, which is full of slime, blood, or other 

 little particles, must never be used for salting, as a foul, disagreeable 

 taste is apt to be thus imparted to the fish. Another very important 

 consideration in the preparation of fish is the quality of the salt used, 

 for it is not only necessary to have a loose, strong, and hard salt, which 

 is best suited for preserving different kinds of herring, but a prime arti- 

 cle must be used. Salt that has suffered from sea-water, or that contains 

 impurities, ought never to be used. 



I. — PREPARATION OF COMMON BALTIC HERRING FOR CONSUMPTION IN 

 SWEDEN AND IN THE GERMAN PORTS ON THE BALTIC. 



In the salting of herring, as at present carried on by the fishermen on 

 most parts of the coast, two mistakes are frequently made: first, salt- 

 ing the fish too much ; and secondly, pressing it too hard. It is very 

 important to prepare the fish in such a manner as to keep for a long 

 time without spoiling. It is likewise important for the merchants to 

 secure well-packed barrels. But both these advantages may be gained 

 without producing a fish entirely saturated with strong salt, or made 

 so thin by pressing as to lose all its natural fat aud only taste of salt. 

 In many places the fish are pressed so hard into the barrels that they 

 form a thick mass, from which the brine soon flows off, leaving the 

 fish dry aud rancid, and by no means pleasant to the taste. Even 

 if the fish are to be sold in one place, a precisely similar mode of pre- 

 paring them is by no means to be recommeuded. And although no 

 one can prescribe rules for preparing fish or producing an article which 

 will satisfy many different tastes, especially as one buyer cares little for 

 the flavor or fatness of the herring, but only for its weight, while with 

 auother the case is just the reverse, most buyers nowadays endeavor to 

 secure a well-flavored article, which is also carefully packed. The mode of 

 preparation given below has been tried for a number of years in the 

 best salting establishments in Gottland and on the southern coast of 

 Sweden, and fish preserved in this manner will never fail to find a ready 

 market. 



In the preparation of the common herring, St. Yves, (Setubal,) Lis- 



