460 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
vats of water where they soak for an hour or so, the blood within the backbone being 
scraped out with a knife in the meantime, when the water should be renewed or the 
tish placed in other tubs. Upon completion of the washing and soaking, the fish are 
drained and put in vats with dry Liverpool salt at the bottom, and over each layer 
of lish, and on top. Every 13 hours thereafter for 7 days the fish are stirred with a 
pole, to separate them from eacli other and to have all portions uuiforndy salted, thus 
avoiding spots caused by salt burning. 
On the eighth day the fish should be removed, drained, and packed in barrels. 
First is i>laced a sprinkling of Turks Island salt, then a layer of shad, backs down, 
then a sprinkling of salt and another layer of fish, backs up, and so on until the 
barrel is full; and after the fish have settled for a day or so the barrel is toiiped up 
with other fish and then filled with strong pickle made of Liverpool salt, when it is 
coopered and stored ready for market. The usual wholesale price for salted buck 
shad is $7.50 per barrel of 180 pounds. 
The salting of shad was once an important industry ou the Connecticut Eiver 
and on Long Island Sound near the mouth of that stream, and there is a provision 
among the laws of Connecticut requiring that — 
Pickled shad intended for market shall he split and well cleansed and pickled in strong brine, and 
shall remain in such brine at least 15 days before they shall be put up for market, and shall be put up 
in barrels or half-barrels, the l)arrels containing 200 pounds each, and the half-barrels 100 pounds each, 
of fisli well Y>acked, with a sufficient quantity of salt, and filled with strong brine; and shad so put 
up shall be of three denominations, to wit; Shad “ number one,” to consist wholly of shad well saved, 
free from rust or any defect, with the head and tail cut off and the backbone cut out, each barrel to 
contain not more than 80 shad, and each half-barrel not more than 40. The second denomination shall 
be shad “number two,” to consist wholly of those well saved, trimmed, pickled, and prepared for 
packing in the same manner as shad number one, each barrel to contain not more than 90 shad, and 
each half-barrel not more than 45. The third denomination shall be shad “ number three,” to consist 
of such as will not answer for either of the two former numbers, well saved, with the heads taken off. 
The legislature of Maine, in 1828, required that shad pickled iu that State should 
be branded as follows: 
Those of the best quality, caught iu the right season, to be most approyed and free from damage, 
having their tails cut oft’ and backbones out, shall be branded “ cargo mess” ; those which remain after 
the best have been selected, being sweet and free from taint, rust, or damage, with their backbones 
iu and tails on, shall be branded “cargo No. 1”; and there shall be a third quality, which shall 
consist of the thinnest and poorest of those that are sweet and wholesome, which shall be branded 
“ cargo No. 2.” 
BRINE-SALTED SWORDFISH. 
Most of the swordfish captured ou the New Euglaud coast are sold fresh, yet 
sometimes a glut iu the market or the exigencies of the fishery make it desirable that 
they be preserved in more permanent form, and pickling in brine is the process usually 
adopted. In dressing, the swords are sawed off and discarded and the heads removed 
with a large knife and saved for the oil factories. The fish is then split down the 
belly and the viscera removed. The splitting is continued down to the tail and 
around the back, the backbone removed, and the fins and tail cut oft'. The fish is 
then cut into pieces weighing 4 or 5 pounds each and placed in butts with a heavy 
sprinkling of salt, about 24 bushels of Trapani salt being used to each 1,000 pounds 
of fish. Any time after 10 days or 2 weeks the fish are repacked in shipping 
barrels — 200 pounds to the barrel — with a small quantity of salt sprinkled among 
them. The barrel is then filled with pickle and headed up. 
