PRESERVATION OP FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
535 
boned only with difficulty and loss), the backbone is broken with a pair of pincers 
near the root of the tail; then by evenly and tightly squeezing it with the fingers it is 
loosened along the entire length. By this manipulation the whole bone system is 
loosened, and, commencing at the neck, by the use of a pair of pincers the backbone 
and the connecting bones can be readily removed. 
The present unsatisfactory condition of the Maine sardine industry suggests the 
advisability of preparing the fish after the manner of the Norwegian smoked sardines. 
The fish used in Norway is the sprat (Glupea sprattus), which is very much like the 
small Maiue herring {Glupea harengus)-, but among the sprat the seines catch many 
herring {Ghipea harengus), which are treated in the same manner as the sprat. The 
industry is prosecuted aloug the southern and southwestern coasts of Norway and is 
centered at Stavanger. When the Norwegians began canning these small fish they 
copied the French methods and put up a product somewhat like the Maine sardine on 
the market at the present time. But the fish lacked the delicate flavor necessary for 
competition in Europe with the products of Frauce aud Portugal, and in order to cover 
up the herring flavor they tried smoking them. The quality of the article proved 
exceedingly satisfactory, and the output now amounts to several hundred thousand 
cases annually. The method of preparation is as follows : 
The fresh fish, as soon as practicable aftei' capture, are put into strong brine for 
4 or 5 hours, and then strung on a small iron rod, drained and dried in the open air. 
They are next placed in the smokehouse, where they are dried for a few minutes by 
lightly warmed smoke, the temperature not exceeding 100° F. Then the fires are 
increased aud the fish are hot-smoked, being cooked without breaking the skins, so 
as to hold all the juices. The completion of the smoking is determined by pressing 
the flesh of the fish, which should separate into flakes. The cutters then remove the 
heads aud tails and pass the fish to the j)ackers. The latter assort aud put them 
in the cans with olive oil, after which the cans are soldered. In steaming, a large 
number of sardine cans are placed at one time in the cooking tank, where they 
remain from 20 to 30 minutes, aud are then removed and the air-hole soldered. They 
are next again steamed for a few minutes, cleaned aud labeled. Before selling, the 
cans must remain for 2 or 3 months in storage, so that the oil may have sufficient time 
to penetrate through the flesh. 
As a result of his investigations into the French methods of preparing sardines 
in oil and his subsequent experience with the preservation of pilchards in Cornwall, 
Mr. C. E. Fryer, inspector of fisheries for England aud Wales, makes the following 
suggestions for the preparation of sprats ( Glupea sprattus)^ which in many particulars 
resemble the small herring of Maiue : 
The fish shonld be landed in as fresh a state as possible, spread on the floor, and sprinkled with 
salt. They should then, without delay, be beheaded and gutted (all bruised lish being rejected), 
thoroughly washed, and immediately placed carefully in vats, with a thin layer of coarse British salt 
between each layer of fish. Here they should remain for 1 or 2 hours, after which they shonld be 
taken out, again washed, and ranged in specially prepared wire baskets (grilles) to dry. 
One great object to be aimed at is to handle the fish as little as possible, and to pass them through 
the preliminary stages with all speed. With this object the baskets into which the fish are thrown 
by the “gutter” should be of a size to be easily handled, and should be constructed of open wicker- 
work, so that the fish in them can be effectually washed by merely plunging the baskets into an open 
tank plentifully supplied with fresh water. The wire drying baskets are so contrived that the fish 
will not need to be touched by the hand again after they are once placed in them till they are ready 
to be xracked in the tins. As the wire receptacles are tilled with fish they are ranged in the sun, or 
