PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
439 
headed and a hole bored in the bilge or head and snfticient strong brine added to till 
the barrel; the hole is then plugged and the barrel is ready for shipment. It is 
important that the herring be packed so tight in tlie barrel that their relative positions 
are not disturbed in handling the barrel, thus removing the scales and breaking the 
fish. There is little decrease in weight in pickling herring, 211 iiounds of fresh fish 
making a barrel of 200 pounds of round herring. The market price for round herring 
during recent years has ranged from $3 to $5 per l)arrel. 
The cost of preparing a barrel of pickled round herring in New Enghuid is about 
$2.37, apportioned as follows ; 
Cost of 200 poniuls of fresh herring $1. 00 
Labor of pickling in butts 07 
Salt used iu pickling in butts .• 20 
Barrel 50 
Salt used iu packing iu barrel 09 
Labor of packing iu barrel 08 
Cooperage - 06 
Cartage 07 
Wear aud tear, loss, etc 30 
GIBBEB AND SPLIT HERRINC. 
Although most of the herring taken on the New England coast are salted round, 
some of them are either gibbed or split before being salted. This method of curing 
the fish is much more effective than salting them round, the latter being objectionable 
because all the blood is thereby retained in the fish and undergoes a slight decompo- 
sition before the salt thoroughly strikes through the skin and flesh. It is very infre- 
quent that herring are salted round in Europe, the usual practice being to gib them 
before salting. Less salt is also required for preserving the fish when they have been 
gibbed, and thus the flavor of the product is imiiroved. Gibbing consists in removing 
the gills, heart, and sometimes the viscera from the fish by means of the thumb and 
forefinger. It requires 228 iiounds of round fish to make 200 iiounds of gibbed fish. 
Gibbing is very little practiced now iu the New England States, because the fish are 
usually not very fat, and look thin and iioor when gibbed. Splitting is performed by 
cutting the fish down the belly to the vent, removing the gills and viscera, and usually 
the roe bags and milt of siiawniug herring. In some localities, especially at Eastiiort, 
Me., it is customary to immerse the fish in brine for a few moments before they are 
cut. This causes the herring to keep their scales better and brighter, aud they can 
also be handled more readily in splitting. Splitting was originally applied only to the 
extra large herring iu order to permit the salt to more readily strike through them ; it 
is now commonly practiced in Newfoundland and Canada, but herring for pickling 
are rarely split down the belly iu the extensive fisheries of Europe. 
After evisceration the fish are immersed in tubs of salt water for a couple of 
hours to allow the blood to be soaked from them, when they are packed in butts or 
tight barrels, back down, with the stomach cavities filled with salt and with a layer 
of salt sprinkled between the layers of fish, about 3 pecks of salt being used for each 
barrel of fish. When iiroperly struck the fish are repacked in the same manner as 
the round herring above described. In iiacking in the barrel some fishermen place 
them on their backs and slightly inclined to one side. Others place them fully on the 
back. The latter appears to be the better method, as it gives the herring a more 
round and thick appearance aud the pickle has a better chance at the abdominal 
cavity. The split herring usually sell at about $1 per barrel more than round lierriug. 
