GADUS MORRHUA. 



feeding their dogs and other domestic animals during the win- 

 ter. Strange as such diet may appear, it is stated as a well- 

 established fact, that cows fed upon these pounded bones, 

 mingled with a small quantity of vegetable matter, yield a 

 larger supply and a better quality of milk than those supported 

 upon more ordinary provender. 



The usual mode of preserving codfish for commercial pur- 

 poses, and the demand is considerable, is by salting them im- 

 mediately after they are caught, having first removed the head, 

 bowels, &c. Those which are carefully selected, and salted 

 with greater attention to their whiteness, are usually called 

 dun-fish^ and bring a better price than such as are salted in 

 bulk, with little regard to the discoloration caused by imper- 

 fect washing and draining before being packed. Where fa- 

 cilities are afforded for drying by an adjacent shore, or by the 

 construction of the vessel, cod are cured by drying alone, or 

 with a very small quantity of salt. This process requires sev- 

 eral days' exposure to sun and air, and when skilfully con- 

 ducted keeps the fish for an indefinite period in a very desira- 

 ble condition of whiteness and freshness, both peculiarly ad- 

 vantageous to the appearance of the fish at respectable tables. 

 Cod thus cured are called stock-fish, and before being cooked 

 require to be softened, by soaking in water and pounding with 

 a wooden mallet. The spawning season on the Banks of 

 Newfoundland begins about the month of March and termi- 

 nates in June ; consequently the regular period of fishing does 

 not commence before April, on account of the storms, ice, and 

 fogs ; and, indeed, many fishermen consider the middle of May 

 as sufficiently early. After the month of June, cod commence 

 their migrations to other quarters, and of course the fishing is 

 suspended until the ensuing season. During the months of 

 April and May fresh cod of several species are caught in con- 

 siderable abundance on the Atlantic coast of the United States, 

 as far south as the Capes of Delaware, and perhaps still more 

 to the southward. 



Cod-liver oil, which is largely consumed in the arts, particu- 

 larly in the preparation of leather, has long been collected 

 upon the coasts of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New 

 England. Fishermen, whose boats near the shore are small, 

 soon obtain a load, and, running in to land, deliver their car- 

 goes to persons whose business it is to cleanse and salt the 

 fish. The oil is prepared either in the huts of the fishermen, 



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