PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
543 
are rubbed back and forth by the workman’s hand. A tub, can, or box is placed under 
the sieve to receive the eggs as they jiass through. It is convenient, where much 
caviar is prepared, to fit the sieve over a zinc-lined trough, about 18 inches deep, 2 feet 
wide, and 4 feet long, with its bottom sloping to one end, where an outlet is arranged. 
As the eggs are gently pressed by the hand and worked back and forth across the 
meshes, they become separated from the membranous tissue and from each other and 
fall into the receptacle, whence they are removed and placed in clean half-barrel tubs.* 
In the tubs the eggs are at once mixed with a compound of Luneburg salt, 100 
pounds of eggs requiring 13 pounds of Liineburg salt, to which is added 1 pound 
of “preservaline,” a proprietary composition of certain antiseptics, such as boracic 
acid, salicylic acid, etc. The Luneburg salt costs about $4 i)er cask of 300 pounds, 
and the preservaline costs about $19 per 100 pounds. The preservaline has been 
in use for about twelve years, and since it gives satisfaction and costs only a 
trifle compared with the value of the caviar, no disposition exists to exiierimeut 
with a substitute. The mixing of the eggs with the salt is accomplished by gently 
stirring the mass by hand for a few minutes. The immediate eflect of the salt is to 
cut the slime or glutinous coating from the eggs and to dry the mass, but very 
soon its strong affinity for moisture causes it to extract the watery constituents 
of the eggs, and in 10 or 15 minutes a very copious brine is formed, and upon its 
surface a frothy substance collects. This is skimmed off and the eggs placed in 
sieves of a finer mesh, about 8 or 10 jiounds of eggs in each sieve. For convenience 
in draining, these sieves may be placed on a sloping plank, with strips nailed on each 
edge to elevate them, or in some houses they are placed over an opening in the floor. 
The draining must be thorough, and requires from 12 to 20 hours. 
The process is now complete and the caviar is at once placed in small, clean oaken 
kegs, which have been thoroughly steamed, with capacity for holding from 125 to 160 
pounds. The kegs cost about $1 each, being made of red or white oak or Norway or 
Oregon pine. The Delaware kegs hold about 125 or 130 pounds, those used on the 
Great Lakes about 160 pounds, and those on the Columbia Eiver about 145 or 150 
pounds. The kegs when filled with caviar should be kept in a cool but not freezing 
temperature and be allowed to stand for a considerable time, in order that the gas 
may escape. During this time the caviar settles several inches and the keg should 
be again filled before being headed up. 
Experience is essential to the f>reparation of a high grade of caviar, as the extent 
of the salting, draining, etc., depends on the condition of the eggs, the temperature, 
and the state of the weather. It is usually customary to keep light and dark varieties 
of roe separate, since mixing the two gives a speckled appearance to the product. In 
storage the caviar should be held at a low temperature, 38^ to 40° F. being found most 
satisfactory, and under favorable conditions it may be kept for several years. 
The principal market for caviar in kegs is New York City. There are numerous 
buyers at various fishery points on the coast and in the interior, who collect the output 
of the smaller manufacturers and ship it to New York dealers, who export the greater 
part of it to Germany. Occasionally a manufacturer on the Delaware may ship his 
product to Germany direct, but more frequently it passes through the hands of New 
York dealers. 
Caviar is packed in kegs for the wholesale market, and is never handled in any 
other form of package by the original producer, but a keg holding more than a cus- 
tomer usually desires, the large dealers prepare it in hermetically sealed tin cans for 
