PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PROHUCTS FOR FOOD. 
453 
barrel of iisb. The barrels are lilled above the chimes and liavo to stand two or three days to settle 
before the head can bo put in. They are then headed and are ready for sliipment. In some instances 
buyers desire pickle put in, and if so, the barrels are turned over on their side and a H-inch holo 
bored in the bilge, through which pickle is turned in by means of a funnel until the barrel is 
comirletely lilled. The hole is then plugged. If the buyer does not request it no pickle is put in. It 
is generally considered that the lish will keep longer without the pickle than with it. It is claimeil 
that the pickle has a tendency to make the lish soft. It i.s estimated that from the time the alewives 
are taker fresh until they are cured and packed for shipment about 3 bushels of salt are used to each 
barrel of lish. 
At Waldoboro they are not kept in pickle longer than two or three weeks at most, and are con- 
sidered in a suitable condition for packing after being in i)ickle eight or ten days. The quantity of 
salt used in curing and packing was estimated not to exceed 2 bushels to the barrel. 
PICKLING RIVER HERRING IN RUSSIA. 
The following method of xiickliug the large, fat river herring of Russia xirevails 
on the Caspian Sea, this description being furnished by Mr. Schroder, of Stettin, 
Germany: 
The lish are salted in layers, in large reservoirs dug in the ground, protected by a wooden shed, 
and holding from 60 to 100 barrels. No pickle i.s poured on them, as it forms of itself, after a few 
days. In the course of six or eight days the fish are taken out of the reservoirs .and packed in barrels, 
a little salt being sprinkled over each layer. When about three-fourths of the barrel is lilled, a mat or 
sack is laid over the fish, the packer gets into it and tramps them together, the vacant space is packed 
with tang [a seaweed], the end pressed in by means of a screw and closed. In the upiiermost end 
a buughole is made, through which is poured a quantity of new boiled pickle, containing from 20 to 25 
per cent of salt, the whole being then ready for the market. When the fish are to lie for an indefiuite 
time, ice cellars are made, very conveniently fitted uji, and the reservoirs dug beneath them. The 
Norwegian method, which is much superior, has been tried during the last year and is found to give 
good results. The salt used in the curing is obtained from salt lakes on the banks of the Volga, and 
costs from 10 to 15 kopecks per pood. It is found in great abundance, especially on the banks of Lake 
Baskuntschak. The barrels are made of lime wood, about three-quarters of an inch thick, and are 
fastened with 14 to 16 wooden or 4 iron hoops. When used for sending a long distance they are made 
of oak, and it is purposed to try birch-wood barrels, as it is thought that birch keeps the pickle better 
than lime wood. In size they are a little larger than the Norwegian bari els, and contain about 400 
fish of average size. A barrel with wooden hoops costs a ruble, iron hoops costing 10 to 15 kopecks 
more. 
BRINE-SALTED COD AND HADDOCK. 
The trade iii brine-salted cod on the Rew England coast is small and is confined 
exclusively to the small fish, under 16 inches siilit, measured on the back of the fish 
from the hollow of the nape to the hollow of the tail. A few haddock are also pickled, 
but hake, pollock, and cusk are rarely iilaced on the market in this condition, excefit 
possibly a few barrels representing a surplus from the Fulton and other fresh-fish 
markets situated in places where it is not convenient to dry-salt the fish. In pickling 
cod or haddock the fish are dressed, split, washed, and salted in butts with about 2 
X)ecks of salt to the 100 iiouuds of fish, in the same manner as has been heretofore 
noted in iirepa'ring dry-salted cod. When orders are received, the fish are removed 
from the butts, cleaned with brushes, and placed in tight barrels, 200 pounds to the 
barrel, face side up, except the top layer, which is placed back up, the fish being bent 
to follow the curve of the barrel, pressure being applied, if necessary, to place the 200 
pounds in the package. It is imi)ortant that the fish be not repacked until thoroughly 
struck through, otherwise the flesh will be marked with yellow sjiots caused by contact 
