Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-10-20
1aiOa md smetitan.
HOW sARDINEs ARE CAUGHT AVE-
PREPARED.
a correspondent ofthe London Times, in
an article on the French fisheries, has the

Eo--e VI tie LONDON lf0teS, IN
an article on the French fisheries. has the
following:
=. nc great French sardine fishery is con-
J, IN way that Is quite remarkable for
cue eNtravagance Il involves. The rnrat
= on the British coast-indeed All
.ne net fisheries of our coast-are carried on
al lne most primitive way, and with very
siea1 success. The French sardine fishery
- cohaucied ~ way altogether different
,lOil ours; u presents this anomaly. name
~ that The French have made II n bait gisb-
eIy' requiring the annual expenditure ~ an
Si.oI NOUS sum Of money for the substance
win which 10 entice the fish, this qnbst,rca
oeing the roe Of the coda feurative wbale
% catch sprat. On the shores of the Nor,I
sea fisheries have been established SOLELY for
the purpose Of providing the eoos III ,ba
goldfish as the bait for the sardine catcbers
Of Concarneau. Sa'cnerS
Ahis roe, which is prepared. costs so francs
81 Darrei' Each boat employed in the sar
oine hshery will use about l5 barrels everv
season. and as there are about 5000 sardine
Doats on the coast Of Brittany, the money
ps.lo sof bait cannot be much under glO0-
wv per annum. The number of Goldfish that
must Re killed, or at least are killed. for the
purpose OF obtaining this ground bait. Is
,sn.eFe'ore enormous, and If the fishery exhi-
Dliiorl now open IN France achieve nothing
hlorcihan the teaching ofthe Concarneau 10
cet lsi lhelr sardines as the British fishermen
c4st sl lleir sprats, they will indeed be a
CREST saccess.
1ae capture and cure Of the sardine Is a
great business in France, and especially al
N.onearneau, where as many as 1900 men
aio IN the fishery. 1t is not easy to obtain
accurate statistics Of the business done in
sardines. In the first place there is a large
quantity sold tresh-that is, packed in dry
SAT-, IN little baskets made of rushes, and sent
wherever there is an outlet. Then there Is
an enormous quantity sold in those familiar
TINS. 1t = said that, beside the quantity ex-
ported, which is large, there are as many as
4,OOO,O00 boxes cured in oil and prepared
for the home market. Then, beside these
large number are sold loose in barrels. and
also pressed in barrels.
IL IS an interesting sight 10 witness the ar
rival Of the boats, and to see the rush TO the
curing establishments Of the men, women
and children interested in the sales. How
their sabOls do clatter as they prance over
the stonesl The curers Just buy from day to
day whatsardines they require. and no more
generally speaking, they DO not, as in the
Scottish herring fishery, make contracts with
boats, and only one or two firms have boats:
Of their own. When the curers are in want
Of a supply Of fish, they put up a flag at
their curing establishment, and the fisher
men hurry to supply them, the price vary
ing from day to day, according as the fish
cry has been abundant or the reverse. As
soon as the boats arrive the fish are pat in
train for the cure By being gutted beheaded,
sorted into sizes and washed in sea water,
chiefly by women, who can earn from l2f.
TO ZOE q week at these curing establishments.
The cure is begun by drying the fish on
nets or willows, generally in the open air,
but sometimes from stress Of weather il must
be done under cover. After being dried
they are ready for the process Of the pan,
which is kept over a furnace, and is filled
with boiling oil. Into the cauldron the fish |
areplunged, two rows deep, arranged on wire
gratings. In this pan Of oil (the very best
olive oil they remain for brief period, till, |
in the judgement Of the cook they are done
sufficiently. Then they are placed to drip,
the drippings of oil being, of course, careful
" collected after which they are packed |
by women and girls into the nice little tin
boxes in which they are sold Again they
are allowed 70 drip by the boxes being
sloped; then each box, by means Of tap, is
filled carefully up to is lid with pure olive
oil, when it is ready for the next process,
which is the soldering on Of the lids, or, as it
may be called, the hermetical sealing up Of
the box, most particular part of the pro-
cess, at which the men can earn very large |
wages with this drawback, that they have |
20 buy all the fish that are spoiled.
After the soldering has been accomplished |
the boxes have 10 be boiled in a steam chest. |
Those that do not bulge out after the boil |
ing are condemned as dead; :" for when the /
process is thoroughly gone through the per- |
lection of the cure is known by the bullying |
ont Of the boxes, which are of various sizes, |
according to the purpose for which they are |
designed. There are boxes Of six pounds |
weight and two pounds weight, as also half |
and quarter boxes, with from about twenty |
four TO twelve fish in them, according TO |
sire Little kegs are also filled with sar-
dimes cured as anchovies. The finishing pro-
cess Of the sardine cure is TO stamp the boxes |
and afiix the thin brass labels which are al
ways found upon them. There are little in
cidental industries connected with the cure
which may be noticed. The debris is sold
for agricultural purposes, as is the case at
home here, where the curers get n few pounds
annually for their ofial then large guam
tity Of oil is exuded from the sprat during |
the process of the cure, and on the total fish
cry this oil is Of considerable value. The /
"dead" fish, as we have said, are sold TO the
men, but the success Of the cure is usually so
great that the dead form but a very small
percentage Of the total number Of boxes sub
mitted 20 the test.