St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1886-12-11
HERRINGS FOR SARDINES.

HERRINGS FOR SARDINES.
wh.. Nature Has Done for the French
Man Made for the >hrewd Yankee.
The rich, spicy flavor of the French
sardine was not there, but only the un.
mistakable taste of the native herring.
The Yankees could not discover any
means by which the herring taste could
be eradicated, and the sardine business
was pronounced failure, but our
smart New Workers., after few expert.
ments, hit upon a mixture of oils and
spices for packing sauce. which made
a sardine of herring in a twinkling.
and gigantic industry has sprung
from the simple discovery. Not only
are sardines made from common her
ring now, but from sea trout, a fish
called moranee and several other
finny species, all herring of lesser or
greater growth.
The herring of which sardmes are
made are never over four inches long,
and the catching of the fish keeps hun
dreds of people busy along the coasts
of Maine and New Brunswick The
herring go in shoals like mackerel, and
the price received for them is governed
entirely by the condition of the fisheries.
Sometimes the fish swarm along the
coasts, and hauls are made with I'M
varying success. Then the fisherman
can expect no more than S. a hogs
head for his herring. Again, his nets
may be but poorly patronized, and he
has his recompense in higher price,
frequently obtaining SIS and $40 q
hogshead. These big prices are gen.
orally obtained early in the spring.
A herring fishery is simple thing.
Small trees or brush are thrust into the
sandy bottom of the sea. arranged in a
line running out probably one hundred
feet or more and then curving back to
the shore again. This is called a trap,
and inside of this huge net is set.
When the tide is going out the net is
raised, and the fish that come up with
it are taken out with scoop nets.
Sometimes this catch will be 80 large
that the weight of the fish will break
the bottom out of the big net, and the
great heap of fish will nearly all escape.
Then, again. the fishermen are able tc
carry in bushel bag all the herring
that are caught in haul. Herring,
like mackerel, will follow light on
the wator. and some fishermen take
advantage of this to fish for them in 3
peculiar way. Two or three fishermen
60 in boat. They are provided with
torches made of cotton batting satur-
ated with kerosene. Dark nights are
chosen, and the boats are rowed along
hn in hn ho, %
each boat. 1t is soon known when a
school of herring is reached, for the
fish dash frantica1ly after the wake of
light made by the torch, and make the
water seethe and boil in their rush.
The fishermen have short poles, on one
end of which is small scoop net.
They dip the herring out of the water
with these as fast as the nets can be
handled, and so intent are the fish on
the light that the net does not disturb
them in the least. In this way boat
load after boat load of future sardines
are captured in Il short time.
The way these herring are handled |
at the factories is sight well worth |
going all the way to Maine to see.
After being captured the fish are taken |
Immediately to the factories. They are
laid in heaps on long tables. 1 have
heard some of the native fishermen
around here talk about their skill in
SHINING a catfish. If they could see
some of the boys and girls who work
in these sardine factories clean these
herring they would never mention
skinning q catfish again. The fish are
cleaned as soon as they come in.
stood and watched seven-vear-old |
girl 60 through the operation and |
TIMED her. She beheaded and Quilted
seventy-five herring every minute for
ten minutes without a miss or a halt,
and they told me there were hundreds
more that could do the same
thing and keep it up all day. The dex-
terity is simply marvellous. The head
of the fish is cut off and the entrails are
removed with one stroke of the knife,
but how it is done am not able to say.
Each fish-cleaner has box at his feet
which holds bushel, and constant
stream of fish is falling from his hands
into that box. Every time it is filled
the boy or girl has earned ten cents.
The herring are thoroughly washed
after being cleaned and are then placed
in pickle for an hour. Taken from the
pickle, they are laid on trays and
placed in drying-room heated to
high temperature by steam. When
dry the fish are boiled in large shallow
pans filled with oil, the fish being thor
oughly cooked in the OIL Girls and
women then pack the herring in the
tin boxes in which they are placed in
the market. The sauce. a patented ar
ticlc, is poured into the boxes. which
are handed over to men who solder on
the covers. To remove the air which
is sealed in with the fish, and which
must be taken out to insure the preser-
walton of the ssrdines, the boxes are
placed in a tank of boiling water for
half an hour. On being removed they
are placed on an inclined plane. The
air inside is then driven to one corner;
. workman punctures that corner with
an awl; the hot air escapes. and the awl
hole is Immediately covered with drop
of solder, and the box is air tight The
box then receives its French label.
bearing the inscription, = rhuille
d'olive.' The .huille d'olive' is made
from cotton seed in South Carolina, and
isn't the best quality of that, either,
not by a good deal. There is class
Of these Maine sardines. however,
known as prime, which are preserved
in the best cotton-seed oil.
New York is the great wholesale GEN.
ter for these Yankee sardines. Some
idea of the magnitude of the business
may be obtained when l tell you that
one factory alone in Lubec. and there