THE HERRING FISHING INDUSTRY 63 



The packer takes an armful of fish from the rousing 

 tub and drops them into the barrel. Each time the 

 fish are taken from the rousing tub the contents of the 

 tub are well stirred up. The fish are then packed in 

 the barrel hi layers, bellies upward, and each layer 

 is liberally sprinkled with salt. In this way each 

 individual fish is first of all thickly coated with salt in 

 the rousing tub, and adjacent layers of fish in the barrel 

 are also separated by a layer of salt. In this packing 

 process, it is important that the fishery salt used should 

 be coarse, reasonably hard, slow in dissolving and 

 present in considerable excess. It should be coarse 

 enough to prevent the fish from touching each other, 

 thus enabling the brine to penetrate to every part. It 

 should be hard enough to withstand the pressure of the 

 fish in the barrel. It should dissolve slowly, so that the 

 salting process takes place gradually, enough salt 

 remaining undissolved throughout the process to keep 

 the fish from touching. Altogether, about 1 cwt. of 

 salt is used for each barrel of herrings cured. 



The barrel, when fully packed, is covered over and left 

 for about eight days. During this time, the salt extracts 

 water from the fish and dissolves in it to form a saturated 

 brine. The efficiency of this salting process necessarily 

 depends upon the salt being present in considerable 

 excess, so that the brine formed is kept saturated, and 

 consequently continues to withdraw water from the fish. 



At the end of eight days, the barrels are opened, 

 an inch hole is drilled in the side at the bilge, and 

 the pickle allowed to run out. It is found that, 

 owing to the withdrawal of water from them, the her- 

 rings have shrunk considerably, and some more salted 

 herrings are added to the barrel, until it is full again. 

 It is then fastened down permanent!}', turned over on 

 its side and filled with brine pickle, and corked up. 



