PRESERVATION OE FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
451 
the sand, loose scales, etc. This may be aceom[)lished by dipping basketfuls of them 
in the water or by placing them in a slat-work box and running water through the 
mass, stirring them about in the meantime. Some curers scale and wash the llsh at 
the same time, the fish being placed with sand in tubs of water and washed with 
brooms and then placed in half-barrel tubs with holes in the bottom and sides for 
draining. About thirty years ago a machine was introduced for scaling tish which was 
used for a while, but is now discontinued. This consisted of a revolving lattice-work 
cylinder, having projecting metallic blades arranged upon its inner periphery and 
sides. The cylinder was filled with fish and revolved in a tank of water, the scales 
and slime falling through the lattice work and being carried away by the water. 
The salting is done in large vats or hogsheads, a convenient size for the vats being 
16 feet in length, 5 feet in width, and 2 feet deep, having capacity for about 33 barrels 
of fish. The bottom of these is first covered with 4 or 5 inches of vei'y strong brine; 
then put in 8 or 10 barrels of fish, stirring them about as they are being dumped in, 
and sprinkling more salt on top, following this up with fish and salt, with a heavy 
covering of salt on top, 6 barrels of salt being used for 33 barrels of fish. In case the 
fish are being cured in hogsheads, the latter should be half-filled with strong brine, 
then 4 half-barrel tubs of fish are dumped in, and these covered with half a barrel 
of Liverpool salt. More fish and salt are then added uTitil the hogshead is filled. 
After remaining thus for twenty-four hours the herring are stirred with a “breaker,” 
a long stick or pole, flattened at the end, which is about 3 inches in width, and twelve 
hours tliereaften.' the fish are again stirred. In stirring or “breaking” them in the 
vats the breaker is run under the mass and then elevated to the surface, the object 
being to bring the lower layer of fish fo the surface and break up the masses which 
have become bunched together, so that the salting may be uniform throughout. 
After remaining over night the fish are “muddled,” for the purpose of “pump- 
ing” or drawing forth the blood from the gills. This consists in pushing them back 
and forth with a rectangular board, 5 inches long and 3 inches wide, attached at the 
upper surface to a long handle, and is done twice daily for six or eight days. Each 
time the fish are “muddled,” during the first four or five days, a quantity of salt is 
sprinkled over them, about 3 bushels being used the first day, and the (piantity 
gradually decreased. 
At the end of seven or eight days, when the fish have become thoroughly struck 
or cured, they are removed with scoop nets and thrown on racks or stands having 
open-work bottoms, where they drain for one or two days before packing. When the 
herring are very abundant and the workmen exceedingly busy the fish sometimes 
remain on the racks for eight or ten days, but in such cases they are liable to rust. 
The tish are packed in barrels, with layers of salt between the layers of fish, from 3| 
to 3 pecks of salt being used for each barrel. Turk’s Island salt is preferred, but 
Liverpool salt is used to a considerable extent. The former is larger-grained and 
does not dissolve so quickly, and it also makes the fish sweeter. The fish are placed 
backs down, excepting the top layer, and those in each layer are placed at right 
angles to those in the preceding laj^er. When the barrel is filled it is allowed to 
settle for a day or two, then topped up with another layer, strong brine added, and 
the barrel coopered and stored ready for market. The usual number of herring to 
each barrel is 400, and the weight is generally 100 pounds. 
The cost of preparing a barrel of river herring in the Chesapeake region approx- 
imates $1.10, of which 35 cents represents the cost of salt, 50 cents the barrel, and 35 
