34 INTRODUCTORY 



February the East Anglian fishermen begin to 

 catch what are known as " spring herring." 

 This fishing lasts through March, April and 

 May. There is little or no fat or roe in the 

 Yarmouth and Lowestoft early spring herring, 

 but the fat of the midsummer herring is so 

 abundant that if it be dissected in water it 

 covers it with oil globules. 



The Yarmouth and Lowestoft herrings ob- 

 tainable at Norwich are usually at their best 

 "full," i.e., four weeks before they shoot their 

 roes in autumn and late spring ; the small 

 spring and longshore herrings being the most 

 delicate. 



The herring's own diet is not confined to 

 one particular kind of food ; it feeds upon small 

 medusae, on the lesser Crustacea, on its own 

 young, on spawn ; it is even known to feed 

 on worms and flies, and may frequently be 

 caught by hooks baited with artificial flies 

 intended for other fish. 



Section IL— Processes of Preparing the 

 Herring. 



It is as bloaters that herring are usually 

 eaten in Norfolk. The Yarmouth bloater is 

 an ungutted, unsplit herring, one-third fresh, 

 one-third slightly salt, and one-third lightly 

 smoked, and, to my taste, is of the right deli- 

 cacy and quality only in and near Great Yar- 

 mouth ; bloaters procured anywhere else than 



