730 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



seine, the contents of the stomach becoming digested in that time; after 

 this they are ready for salting. 



Whether performed with the net or seine, nearly the same process is 

 used as for the spring herring; but, owing to the inferior dimensions 

 of the fish, smaller meshes are required. 



The summer herring, as to size, is always more varied than the spring 

 herring ; it is necessary, too, each time that the seine is raised, to pro- 

 ceed to a minute assortment into four categories : large merchantable 

 herring; small or medium merchantable herring; large Ohristiania her- 

 ring; small Christiania herring. The two first kinds are the largest and 

 fattest, with a little head and very large gall ; they are used principally 

 for exportation. The latter two varieties, on the contrary, smaller and 

 not so good, are used principally in interior consumption, above all, in 

 the diocese of Christiania ; in latter years, however, they have been 

 exported in comparatively great quantities to the Baltic ports. 



When our summer herring is fat and large, that is to say, of the first 

 quality, which, by the by, does not take place every year, it is quite an 

 exceptional article of merchandise, which, when well prepared, far sur- 

 l^asses the most desirable foreign sorts, even the Flemish herring, since 

 this latter which contains a good deal of spawn and milt has used up 

 all its substance in their production, while our summer herring has 

 neither spawn nor milt, but is full of fat. 



The summer herring as soon as caught is divided into four classes, 

 that is, as already stated, into merchantable herring, K K, of about 10 

 inches in length ; great herring (merchantable), medium herring or small 

 merchantable herring, K, of 9.40 inches ; large Ohristiania herring, M, 

 of 8 inches ; and small Christiania herring, C, of 7.20 inches. 



The salting is done on shore ; the barrels being headed, they put them 

 on board one after the other, when they are shijDped to the great 

 ports of exportation. The fatter and more tender the fish, the less 

 closely are the barrels packed. The qualities K K and K are generally 

 worth five or six francs more, and the quality C, five to seven and a 

 half francs less, than the quality M. The greater part of the summer 

 herring is shipped on account of the "Norwegian dealers in the Baltic 

 ports, Denmark, Sweden, Hamburg, and Eussia. That shipped for 

 foreign ports receives at first the ofQcial stamp of a sworn controller 

 (sildevrager), Austria takes a certain quantity of M and C, from which 

 the head and entrails are removed. 



A barrel of summer herring prepared for exportation contains the fol- 

 lowing number of fish : of K K, 800 herrings ; of K, 1,000 herrings ; of M, 

 1,200 to 1,400 herrings ; of C, 1,800 to 2,000 herrings. The net weight of 

 the barrel is rarely more than 220 pounds. 



D.— THE BRISLING FISHERY. 



The brisling or sprat {Qlwpea sprattus) is not a mere variety of the 

 ordinary herring, but is a distinct species. Though smaller than the 



