[3] THE SALTING OP HERRING. 423 



wise, so as to prevent the berring from pressing too heavily against 

 each other. 



If we compare the conditions under which the raw mateiinl is ob- 

 tained in the Norwegian, Scotch, and Dutch tislieries, we find that 

 they are most favorable in the Dutch fisheries, as the salting is done 

 exclnsivelj' on board the vessels by which the herring have been 

 canght, the herring being put in the salt direct from the nets. Where 

 the salting is done on shore the length of time which will elapse before 

 its etfect can be felt will depend on the distance between the place 

 Avhere the fish are caught and the salting place, either a salt house or 

 a vessel. In this respect the Norwegians arc more favorably situated 

 than the Scotch, partly because the fisheries are carried on nearer tlie 

 land, i)arlly because the majority of the herring arc caught with nets 

 from which they can be taken alive and conveyed direct to the salt- 

 houses. As regards freshness, the Norwegian net-herring stand higher 

 than the Dutch seine-herring, whose salting place is near to the place 

 where the}' were caught, and we have here, i)rovided the herring are of 

 good quality, the first condition for obtaiing a first-class article. If it 

 becomes necessary to convey the herring some distance, they lose their 

 freshness and therefore their value. In Scotland herring whi<;h arejjut 

 in salt later than 24 hours after they have been caught cannot get the 

 official stamp. Similar distinctions are made in the Netherlands, and 

 occasionally a distinction is made even between the fish taken from 

 the net first and those taken last. The i)reparation or curing of fish, 

 therefore, begins, if circumstances permit, during the fisheries. In 

 Norway, after the rules relative to the preparing of herring liad been 

 abolished, the i)roper distinction has not always been made between 

 the herring prepared in the place where they liad been caught, and 

 those which had to be conveyed by vessels to more or less distant salt- 

 houses, unless they were absolutely si)oiled. Some peoi)le have even 

 gone so far as to prefer old berring in which the process of decay had 

 already begun. What stress was laid, even in former times, on ])ut- 

 ting the herring, when quite fresh, in salt, may l)e inferred from the 

 circunistauce that in the times of Queen Margaret [l3JcJ-14r2] and Eiic 

 of Pomerania [1389-1459] it was a capital crime to salt spoiled herring. 

 Tliere are, however, such differences in the raw uuiterial, that in a na- 

 tional herring trade some regard should be had to them. By ignoring 

 these differences one runs the risk of having the foreign buyer judge 

 the whole lot of goods by the worst specimens, whereby the difference 

 in value which really exists is lost to the manufacturer or the shipper. 



Salt sprinkling. — The next condition for obtaining a good article 

 is that the herring should be put in salt as soon as possible. In olden 

 times it was customary to throw them into strong brine before they 

 wme salted down in the kegs, which, however, cannot be reconinieiided, 

 as thereby they lose too many scales and become soft. At ]»r(S( ut salt 

 is sjirinkled on the fish. The Scotch sprinkle the herring freely with 



