the hot sun, for it is usually a daylight fishery ; the 

 heat and the bruising caused by the weight of the 

 piles offish, induce rapid decomposition. Hence when 

 the fish get to shore they are often in a poor or even an 

 advanced condition, and since a ton may contain above 

 50,000 fish and labour is scarce, it is impossible to gut 

 many fish before complete taint sets in, so that the bulk 

 of large catches has, perforce, to be spread on the 

 beaches to dry into manure. Hence it became necessary 

 to try and cure without gutting ; this is not unusual, for 

 in America herring are practically always cured 

 '' round," i.e., ungutted ; so also bloaters in England, 

 and pilchards which are practically large sardines. The 

 pilchard cure was mentioned in all essentials in paragraph 

 138 of my book on the curing offish, and Mr. Hornell 

 has recently supplied certain details. Accordingly I 

 experimented with much success on this mode of cure, 

 larore modifications in the Cornish method being neces- 

 sary. I find that the sardines can be brought straight 

 from the boat, " roused " at once with salt in a large 

 trough, and put into the salting tubs, wholly ungutted, 

 without any fear of decomposition ; the proportion of 

 salt first used was one of salt to three or four of fish, 

 but this has been successfully decreased to one to six and 

 even one to seven. Fish so treated in December, 

 January and February were — w-ith exceptions — perfectly 

 good in April; in some cases they were left in their 

 brine, in which case a quantity of the oil usually rose to 

 the surface and formed an air proof protection unless 

 skimmed off as a valuable product ; or they were 

 drained of their brine and perhaps repacked in wooden 

 cases or kerosine tins with a sprinkling of fresh salt ; 

 fish treated in this latter way in December and January 

 remained good for months and are attractive in appear- 

 ance. Consequently I can now take a ton — canoe 

 load — of sardine and make them safe from all danger 

 for months at least, by a single hour's work occupied 

 in washing, rousing with salt, and placing in the tubs. 

 The method is entirely novel in this country and 

 successful, but much further practice is required to 

 ascertain complete data and the best methods ; these will 

 be published hereafter. The fish thus prepared smoke 

 excellently, and keep good and savoury for several 

 months. 



