*WALLEM ON AMERICAN FISHERIES. 79 



found now and then at fair prices. The common mackerel are sold in 

 season for 40 to 50 ore apiece. Here mackerel is the object of an im- 

 portant fishery which lasts from spring till fall on the coast and at sea, 

 the prices varying greatly. A large portion are salted and sold in barrels 

 at prices from $4.91 to $15.29, or even $20.47, for the largest and finest. 



Hahbut vary greatly in price according to the scarcity or abundance 

 of fish 5 they send them also by rail many hundred miles inland, whole, 

 partly filled and partly surrounded with ice, in boxes of from 350 to 400 

 pounds. The prices in the fish-markets fluctuate greatly according to 

 the magnitude of the catch, and when they prosecute the fishery far out 

 at sea on the banks and even along the coast of Greenland no one can 

 constantly have a correct opinion as to where the fishing will be the 

 August, 1876, in New York was 40 ore per pound wholesale, 60 to 75 

 ore per pound retail, and were noted later in a fishing-port near Bos- 

 ton 50 per cent, cheaper; moreover, the price may vary from 9 ore to 

 60 ore per pound in large lots. 



Halibut are to some extent salted (especially the heads) ; some parts 

 also are smoked (especially the backs and the bellies). The cheeks are 

 considered a delicacy. From the heads, also, oil is expressed. Salted 

 halibut heads are sold for $4.91 to $6.28 per barrel. With regard to the 

 assorting of halibut I shall only remark, that white-naped halibut bring 

 as high as 100 per cent, more than the black-naped. 



Salmon fluctuate also greatly in the city markets — from 45 ore to 50 

 ore — but decline in the height of the season to 23 ore per pound — 

 in July for instance; they may as early as August advance to 90 ore, 

 and in November, in the hard-frozen state, they may bring 33 cents per 

 pound. Speculation in frozen salmon is considerable, for the accumu- 

 lation in the winter months is often great, and as a consequence of over- 

 speculation the holders may be obliged in January and February to sell 

 their stock at a rather low price, to prepare for the arrival of the fresh 

 fish in the market. Smoked salmon is not uncommon ; the price varies 

 from 50 to 90 ore per pound. 



The dearest and most esteemed fish are a fresh- water species and the 

 pompano {Tracliynotus caroUnus, a member of the mackerel-family); this 

 delicacy is taken in the South, the champion of the sub-tropical waters, 

 and commands as high as $1 per jiound. Another much hunted fish is 

 the Spanish mackerel ( Cyhium maculatum) ; we tested it in a restaurant in 

 Fulton Market and found it fat, delicate, and savory. 



The commonest fish in general use is the shad [Alosa sapidissima, of 

 the herring-family), which often tastes a little mawkish, but in other 

 respects is a fine, though bony fish. Whether the Americans, among 

 other things, have a decided taste for fish will be seen from what follows. 



