452 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES -FISH COMMISSION. 
cents the labor; the transportation to market costs about 10 cents per barrel, and the 
commission for selling is 10 cents, making a total cost of $1.30 for ijreparing and 
placing the fish on the market. . In 1897 pickled river herring sold for about $1.10 per 
barrel, giving the preparer only 10 cents per barrel for the cost of the green fish, the 
superintendence, use of plant, and outlay of money. The average selling price in 
1808 was advanced to $2.19 per barrel, which gave a fair margin of profit to the curer. 
Select “all roe” herring sell for about $6 per barrel. 
The preparation of “cut” or dressed river herring differs from the above mainly 
in that the heads and viscera are removed before the fish are washed preparatory to 
salting. In dressing, the fish are held in the left hand on a cutting board, with the 
back from the workman, and with one stroke of a knife held in the right hand the 
head is removed, and a continuation of the stroke cuts off the edge of the belly, laying 
the fish open from the napes to the vent, the viscera being extracted by a single move- 
ment of the fingers. The cutters Iti the Chesapeake fisheries receive usually 20 cents 
per 1,000, and an experienced workman can dress 12,000 to 20,000 per day. The fish 
are then washed and soaked, and in every other particular of salting and packing in 
the barrel the process is the same as in j^reparing the gross or round herring. Less 
salt is required for cut herring, and the number of fish placed in a barrel is about 650, 
the weight being 160 pounds, as in case of gross herring. The price in 1897 approxi- 
mated $2.15 per barrel, but in 1898 it was advanced to about $3 per barrel. 
THE NEW ENGLAND PROCESS. 
About $15,000 worth of pickled alewives are prepared annually on the Maine coast, 
mostly in the vicinity of Eastport. To Mr. Ansley Hall I am indebted for the following 
account of the methods in use at that point: 
For packing in barrels the alewives are salted round as they come from the water. The parties 
who handle them at Eastport usually have an agent in the locality where the fish are caught who 
buys them from the fishermen and salts them temporarily in barrels to preserve them until they 
reach Eastport, where they are taken out of the barrels and ijroperly cured before being finally 
packed for shipment. Occasionally the agent cures and packs them, but more frequently he does not. 
In some instances they are placed on board a transporting vessel which has been sent especially for 
them and are salted in tubs or hogsheads by the crew. In such cases they are afterward cured and 
repacked in barrels by the dealer at Eastport. 
In salting them temj)orarily a small quantity of water is first put into the barrel or hogshead, 
about one bucket in a barrel and four or five buckets in a hogshead. Tlie fish are then put in loosely 
in layers Avith salt between each layer and well covered Avith salt at the top. The quantity of salt 
required is aboTit half a bushel to each barrel of fish. If they are packed by an agent to be sent 
to Eastport for curing and repacking, barrels are used. They are alloAved to stand about four days 
before being headed up and the salt is reneAved at the top of the barrels as fast as it dissolves. This 
first salting is done with Liverpool salt. The eft’ect upon the fish is not to permanently cure them, 
but to strike them so they will keep in good condition for a short time. 
When they reach Eastport they are taken out of the barrels and imt into the large herring tanks, 
Avhich hold about 4 hogsheads or 20 barrels each. Each layer of fish is covered Avith a layer of Cadiz 
salt and a heavy layer of salt at the top of the tank. In all, about one-half bushel of salt is used to 
each barrel of fish, or approximately 10 bushels to the tank. A strong pickle is then made and turned 
in. The pickle contains about 1 peck of Cadiz salt to the barrel of Avater, and 5 barrels of pickle 
are necessary to cover the fish in the tank. Boards are then laid across the tank, with heavy stones 
on them for Aveights to keep the fish doAvn under the x)ickle. If the salt on top dissolves, more has 
to be added. The fish remain in the pickle about 8 Aveeks. They are then taken out and closely 
packed in fish barrels, 200 jiouuds of fish to the barrel. A layer of Cadiz salt is placed between each 
layer of fish and a heaA^y layer of salt at the toj) of the barrel. About 3 xiecks of salt are used to each 
