PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR POOD. 
487 
The market for bloaters is principally in Boston, New York, Canada, and the 
West, and the average wholesale price for those prepared from Newfoundland salted 
herring is about $1.20 per 100 fish. The Boston-cured bloaters sold in 1859 at $1.25 
to $1.50, and in 1865 at $1.80, per 100. In 1880 the value of the Eastport bloaters was 
about 05 cents, in 1893 it was 77 cents, and in 1898 it was about 80 cents per 100. 
The cost of preparing bloaters at Eastport is considerably less than at Gloucester 
or Boston. At Boston it approximates 84 cents per box of 100, as follows: 
Salted fish (at $2.50 per barrel of 550) $0.45 
Cost of smoking and packing 25 
Box 14 
Total 84 
During the past two or three years some curers have packed bay leaves between 
the layers of bloaters in the boxes, but fish so packed have a tendency to mold when 
placed in cold storage. Choicest bloaters are veiy little salted, and are smoked so 
slightly that there is little discoloration of the skin, but prepared in that way they 
will keep only three or four days. These mild-cured bloaters are very popular in 
Great Britain, but are not prepared in this country to any great extent. 
The ‘‘pickling” or “buckling” prepared in New York City are quite similar to the 
bloaters ])repared at Boston. The large fat frozen herring from Newfoundland are 
used, their average weight being nearly a pound each. These are placed in cold stor- 
age, whence they are removed from time to time, as the trade requires. On removal 
they are thawed out and pickled round for 10 or 12 hours and placed on rods in the 
smokehouse, and after smoking cold for 8 or 10 hours they are placed in the smoke 
oven and hot-smoked or cooked for an hour or two. About 10,000 pounds of these 
are prepared in New York City annually, selling at about 12 cents per pound. These 
fish are sometimes beheaded and eviscerated before being smoked, and are then sealed 
in tin cans, small fish being selected for this purpose. 
Labrador and Newfoundland split herring, salted in barrels, are also smoked in 
New York City and a few other points, but the business is not so extensive as formerly, 
l^robably not exceeding 12,000 jiouuds annually. These are soaked out, strung up, and 
cold-smoked for 8 or 10 hours, just enough to give a slight color to them. In New York 
they are generally tied 3 in a bunch and sold to the stores at 6 or 7 cents per bunch. 
The preparation of bloaters is much more extensive in Great Britain than in the 
United States, Yarmouth being the principal place where they are cured. Usually 
they are prepared for immediate consumption and are smoked for 10 or 12 hours only. 
When using fresh herring, the fish are placed in strong brine for G or 8 hours, then 
washed in clean water to remove scales, slime, etc., placed on smoke-sticks by pressing 
the latter through the gills, dipped or rinsed in water, and suspended in smokehouses, 
where they are smoked for 10 or 12 hours at a temperature of about 80°. When using 
salted herring, they are soaked for a time to remove the excess of salt, the length of 
the soaking depending on the degree of saltiness of the fish. 
The delegates appointed in 1889 by the Canadian government to inquire into the 
herring industry of Great Britain and Holland, state as follows regarding the Yar- 
mouth bloater industry, on pages 30-31 of their report: 
One of the best bloater curers in Yarmouth informed us that one reason why bis fish stood so 
high in the market was that be was always very careful, in the first place, to select the very best 
fish for the manufacture of bloaters, reserving for other purposes all inferior and unsuitable fish. 
Then be is very careful in salting, curing, and smoking them. Wo saw in the fish stores in Yarmouth, 
