FISHING STATIONS— ENGLAND. 243 



the stone floor of tliis room about sixteen fires are made, 

 the fuel as a rule being oak billets, as the smoke from 

 this wood gives a high colour to the fish. Ash timber, 

 however, is sometimes used when a particular colour is 

 required for some of the foreign markets. The spits of 

 fish having been placed on the loves until all tlie space 

 is occupied, the fires are lighted and kept burning 

 for two days. They are then let out, and the fish 

 allowed to drain or drip for a day ; the fires are again 

 lighted for two days more, and this process of alter- 

 nately drying and dripping is continued for a fort- 

 night ; at the end of that time the herrings, then 

 thoroughly cured, are called " high dried," and are fit 

 for packing. This is done in barrels, two men being 

 engaged in the operation ; one standing with the spit 

 in his hand, tells them off into the barrel, sliding them 

 from the spit four at a time ; these are for convenience 

 counted as two, and the packing is done as rapidly as 

 the teller counts the 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, which would 

 represent 24 fish. When the barrel is filled to the 

 head, a screw press is brought to bear on the fish, and 

 they are tightly flattened down so as to allow an 

 additional number to be stowed away, 650 full-sized 

 fish being about the number packed in each barrel, or a 

 larger number of small fish, according to their size. 

 The manufacturer's name and the number of fish are 

 marked on each barrel ; and it is one of the strong 

 arguments brought against the system of Government 

 brands, so commonly used and paid for by the curers 

 of " white herrings " in Scotland, that the names and 

 marks on the casks of Yarmouth herrings and Cornish 

 pilchards are a sufficient guarantee of the quality of 

 the fish in the large trade carried on with them to the 

 Mediterranean. 



R 2 



