PKESERVATION OP FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
493 
SMOKED SALMON. 
Smoked salmon is among the choicest of fishery products, and its cure represents 
the highest development in tisli -smoking as practiced in this country. The annual 
product approximates 13,800,00(1 pounds, which is sold at fiom 10 to 45 cents ])er pound 
wholesale. It is prepared i)rincii)ally in New York, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia, 
there being 8 or 10 smoking-houses in New York City and vicinity, 4 in Boston, 2 or 3 
in I’hiladelphia, 2 in Chicago, and several on the Pacific coast and other points. 
The great bulk of the supplies for the smoking-houses consists of salmon pickled 
in barrels, which come principally from Labrador, Newfoundland, and Hudson Bay, 
and more recently from Alaska and other Pacific coast points. The trade in pickled 
salmon from the east coast of the British Provinces, known to the trade as Halifax 
salmon, began early in the present century, developed principally between 1830 and 
1840, and since has ranged between 3,000 and 10,000 barrels annually, the receipts 
during the last 30 years averaging 5,500 barrels, valued at about $15 per barrel. 
The Pacific coast salmon have been used for smoking in the Eastern States only since 
1885, and the extent of their use was of little consequence prior to 1890. The favorite 
pickled salmon for smoking are those from Hudson Bay, with Labrador and New- 
foundland ranking next in order. They range iu weight from 5 to 13 iiouiids salted, 
excei)t that some few from the Hudson Bay weigh even 20 pounds, and the wholesale 
price in Boston or New York during the past few years has been from $17 to $20 per 
barrel of 200 pounds. Practically all of the pickled salmon from the east coast of 
the British l^rovinces are smoked, the quantity going to the consumers in brine being- 
less than 2 per cent. While not so red as the Pacific coast salmon, they ai e richer 
and finer-grained. The Pacific salmon cost on the Pacific coast usually about $9 or 
$10 per barrel of 200 pounds, while tlie cost of transportation to the Atlantic coast 
by rail is $3.30 and by vessel $1.20 per barrel. 
The choicest salmon for smoking are those received fresh or frozen from Nova 
Scotia and New Brunswick, especially from the Eestigouche Eiver and vicinity. They 
are quite large, av'eraging 12 or 14 pounds each, some attaining a weight of 40 pounds 
or more. Some curers use fresh salmon only when the New York market is so glutted 
as to run the price down below 10 cents per pound dressed, the fish being then pur- 
chased, brine-salted, and kept for the smoking season. But the best class of smokers 
receive regular shipments from the Eestigouche and vicinity and place them in cold 
storage, whence they are removed for smoking as the trade demands. Many years 
ago, when salmon were abundant in the Penobscot, l^ennebec, and Connecticut rivers, 
they were smoked in Maine and Connecticut, but practically all New England salmon 
are now consumed fresh. Since the salted fish coustitutes the bulk of the receipts at 
the smoking-houses, the methods of their treatment are first described. 
As the daily needs of the trade require, the salmon are removed from the barrels, 
immersed in vats of fresh water for 2 or 3 hours, then washed with a bristle brush to 
remove incrusted salt, slime, etc., and immersed in another vat of water for IG to GO 
hours, according to the temperature of the water and the degree of saltiness of the fish. 
If desirable, the length of the soaking can be shortened by using warm water. In 
some houses they are soaked for 12 hours in running water. The fish are then water- 
horsed in iiiles, skin up except the lower layer, the piles being 2 or 3 feet high, with 
boards on top on which stones are placed for compressing the fish, but water-horsing 
is not practiced by all curers. After this pressure has been applied 4 or 5 hours the 
