220 AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. [June, 
MACKEREL-FISHIN G .— Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
careful hands, of ‘ killing the varmints,’ as there 
is no unpleasant smell which usually accom¬ 
panies the shooting or trapping them, and it is 
a dead sure thing.” 
It would be better indeed if we had suitable 
poultry houses where sitting birds could be 
perfectly protected, but as a matter of fact not 
one farmer in fifty has anything of the kind, 
and the hens sit where they please. Turkeys 
almost invai’iably make their nests in exposed 
places, and a single skunk upon the premises, 
if left to himself, will destroy the poultry crop 
for the season. Use strychnine. 
Connecticut. 
Mackerel and How they are Caught. 
Next to the cod, the mackerel is probably 
the best known fish, as in a salted state it finds 
its way to even the most remote inland towns, 
and is sold fresh in large quantities in all places 
within easy railroad communication with the 
coast. The mackerel, Scomber vernalis , appears 
in the markets fresh about the middle of May, 
and continues nearly to the first of July. When 
just taken out of the water it is a beautiful 
fish; the upper part of the body is of a steel 
blue color, becoming lighter on the sides,while 
below it is of a siivery white with metallic re¬ 
flections. Extending from the back half way 
down the sides are 24 to 30 deep blue bands. 
It is from 16 to 18 inches in length, with a 
fusiform cylindrical body, its greatest depth 
being near the last rays of the first dorsal fin. 
It has an excellent flavor, and furnishes a cheap 
and savory dish. 
Mackerel are very numerous along the At¬ 
lantic coast, and are caught by fishing smacks 
in great numbers from Cape May to Cape Cod. 
These fish were until late years caught with a 
small hook, but as fishing became more exten¬ 
sive a new plan was discovered by which a 
greater number could be caught in less time 
than with the hook and line. It would take 
the fishermen, with hook and line, a long time 
to get a load to bring to market fresh, but now 
they often get enough in one haul to load their 
vessel, and there has of late years been an in¬ 
creased quantity brought to Fulton market, 
which is the great fish depot of New York. 
When there are a great many fish in market 
the fishermen salt their mackerel at sea, and 
avoid a dull sale. The price varies from 
one to three cents, and is sometimes as low as 
half a cent per pound. They are, when plenty, 
peddled through the city by street venders, and 
a large number is sold in this way. 
The engraving shows the method of catching 
the fish with a net. The smackmen have two 
fishing-boats and a large seine-like net, about 
200 fathoms in length and eight in depth, with, 
a large weight of 150 pounds called “ Old 
Tom,” fastened to the bottom rope about mid¬ 
way of the net. They have pulleys connected 
with this weight and small rings fastened to- 
the bottom rope about four feet apart. A long 
rope is passed through these rings and attached 
to the pulleys, so by pulling on this rope the 
men are able to draw up the bottom of the net 
like a bag. On approaching a school of mack¬ 
erel the fishermen drop “ Old Tom ” overboard,, 
and then row around the fish and let out 
the net so as to form a circle, as seen in the 
engraving. After the fish have been closely 
gathered in the net the captain comes alongside 
the net with the smack, and with a large scoop- 
net he, with the assistance of the crew, hoists 
them on board. The engraving also shows 
how mackerel were formerly caught with the 
“ gig,” a method of fishing that afforded much 
sport to the smack-men. The fish, however, 
were not a'lways in the humor to bite at the 
“gig,” and the fishermen would often see 
hundreds, of them at the surface of the water 
at a time and not be able to catch them. The 
two men standing in the rigging are on the 
lookout for mackerel.— D. W. Morris. 
