USEFUL PROJECTS. 



603 



« Lombardy poplar accidentally left 

 in my niHster's orchard, after being 

 loaded with clay balls, became as 

 pendulous as those of the weeping 

 willow. 



I have only to add, that most of 

 the siiecimens of apples and pears 

 produced at our meeting in No- 

 vember and December last by me, 

 and honoured with the encomiums 

 of some of the best judges present, 

 grew upon trees kept low and open 

 in this method. 



Herrings cured in the Dutch 

 Mode on Board British Ves- 

 sels. By Francis Fortune, Esq. 



From Transactions of the Societi/ 

 of Arts. 



In the deep sea (which is the 

 principal fishery for lierrings) the 

 nets are cast from the busses by 

 sunset, and they drive by them 

 alone expecting the shoals, the ap- 

 proach of which is generally indi- 

 cated by small quantities of fish ; 

 andtheirarrival by immense flights 

 of sea fowl. The best fishing is 

 with the wind off shore, for, when 

 it blows in acontrarj' direction, the 

 shoals are broken and dispersed, 

 and the fishery is seldom success- 

 ful Avjiile it continues in that 

 point. 



Immediately after the nets are 

 hauled in (which is often perform- 

 ed with considerable difKcnlty, by 

 means of a windlass when they are 

 full) the crew begin to gyp the 

 fish, that is, to cut out the gill, 

 which is followed by the float or 

 swim, and divide the large jugular 

 or spiral vein with a knife at the 

 same time, endpavouring to waste 

 as little of the blood as possible ; — 

 at this work the men are so ex- 



pert, that some will gyp fifty in a 

 minute. 



Immediately after they are gyp- 

 ped, they are put into barrels, com- 

 mencing with a layer of salt at the 

 bottom, then a tier of fish, each 

 side by side, back downwards, the 

 tail of one touching the head of 

 the other, next a layer of salt, and 

 so alternately until the barrel is 

 filled : — they are thus left, and the 

 blood which issues from the fish, 

 by dissolving the salt, forms a 

 pickle infinitely superior to any 

 other that can be made. The her- 

 rings thus drained of their blood 

 occupy less space, and the whole 

 consequently sinks about one-third 

 down the barrel, but this sinking 

 is at an end in about three or four 

 days. 



When these operations are being 

 performed, the sea is often running 

 mountains high; and it is not 

 therefore to be supposed, that the 

 barrels are so well coopered as not 

 sometimes to allow the pickle to 

 leak out ; and in order to preserve 

 the fish from being spoiled, which 

 would otherwise happen in such 

 cases, some of the gills and entrails 

 are always put by in barrels with 

 salt, in the same manner as the 

 herrings, and yield a pickle of the 

 same quality; with this pickle 

 those barrels which have leaked 

 are replenished, and the fish sus- 

 tains no injury. Every operation 

 is performed in the shade, into 

 which the fish are immediately 

 conveyed on their beinji hauled on 

 board. Each day's fishing is kept 

 separate with the greatest care. 

 The salt used is mixed, and of 

 three different sorts, viz. English, 

 St. Ubes, and Alicant, and each 

 barrel marked with the day of the 

 month on it on which it was 

 filled. 



The 



