Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-08-22
FRESH sARprxxs FROM MAINE,
How little Herring Are Put Cp In Cotton
Seed Oil and TIA Boxes.


seed Oil and Tn Boxe..
THE sARDINR rs LITTLE FISH THAT
L runs in schools Of myriads At certain sea.
sons along the coasts Of France. Spain and
Italy. No one knows where il comes from OF
just why il frsoasnts those shores periodically,
but there 10 no doubt that il is very good &c
eat especially preserved in olive oil. The bust
ness Of preparing il in this way 10 an importan,
industry in the countries mentioned, and great
were the lamentations . few years ago when
fof while 10 exhibited disposition 70 alter it,
habits and sheer OF TO sea after passing the
Straits Of Gibraltar on its way north, withou,
giving the fishermen Of the BAY of Biseay, oh
Do much - . chance 70 make il Q captive for
the pot
| However, there are many kinds OF sariines
which have done this original species tho CON-
ptmsnt 70 assume its name. Norway puts up
small herring as ''sardinss." SO does Japan,
exporting large Quantities Germany does an
lmmenseexport business in Russian sardines, ="
"mch are simply herring cooked and packed
with spices. Before the Franco Prussian war
great quantities of these russian sardines
were sold In this country. That tremendous
conflict interrupted the supply. and dealers on
WIS side OF the water bethought themselves
that there was q similar fish. plentiful beyond
numbers, in the New England waters which
might be suitable substitute. From
| the demand thus unexpectedly originated arose
| the present
| DOMESTIC sARprxr INDUSTRY.
Before that time. early in the sixties, Maine
packer OF Holsters and shell fish named Burn
ham had conceived the idea OF utilizing the
small herring so plentiful of that coast a
| substitute for the sardine. To familiariZe him.
self with the methods employed in the prepara-
l tha pea1 a,+,n L. r., a,..l
| made tour ofinspec:ion of the cauneries in that
| country. taking with him q man. who hired
out rs q laborer in the establishments in order
that be might thoroughly familiarize himself
with the details. Returning to the United
| States he set up q factory at Eastport and pro-
| ceeded to can American sardines. Unfortu-
nately the foggy climate unfavornble 10 dry
| Ing the little fishes, which is an indispensable
preliminary to the cooking Of them. The re-
suit was that the moisture remaining in them
| mixed with the oil In the cans. causing the lat
ter to become tainted and thus imparting an
| unpleasant flavor. which rendered the product
| unmarketable. On this account the enterprise
WAS abandoned.
ARTIFICIAL DRYING.
Nevertheless in 1872 il was taken MP again
By other parties and promptly made success.
The whole difficulty lay in the drying and tina,
has been overcome by artificial process
IN SOUTHERN EUROPE
it 10 possible TO dry the little fishes in the sun
with sufficient quicknsss, but not SO here. mas
much as the time required lie so long that they
| become stale. The French method is to cut of
| the heads and eviscerate them as quickly az
possible, then to soak them in salt water for an
hour. after which they are dried. So
ready to be placed in wire baskets and
| submerged in a boiling caliron of olive oil for
two or three minutes, according TO their size.
after which they are packed in the cans az
snugly as possible: the cans are filed with olive
| OIL sealed with solder and are ready for
market.
The trouble a. to the drying on the Maine
coast has been got over by utilizing dry hea,
supplied by furnace. Steam has also been
used for the cooking, the oil being merely
added for preservative purposes in the cans
Another method employed to Q great extent il
that OF the oven, in which the drying and cook
ing arc performed simultaneously. For thi,
process the great advantage is claimed thai
| herring thus treated can be taken from the
water and canned fresh in next to no time, only
a few minutes being required for the opera
ton. Thus they keep better and have
a superior flavor. Some manufacturers
however, believe that the fish fried in oil are
more palatable. On the other hand. IT is con-
tended that, inasmuch for economy's sake
the same oil must be used for many patches,
the fluid sson becomes filed with scales and
refuse, which burn on the bottom and impair,
to the producta bitter and unpleasant taste.
| HOW THEY ARE PACKED.
After coming from the frying pan, or the
ovens, the herring 90 into the hands Of the
packers, usually women, who sort them accord.
ing to sizes and put them in the boxes. which
are then filled with oil. Olive OIL being costly,
has been altogether superseded for this purpose
by cotton seed and peanut oils. the latter being
considered preferable article. Even in France
| substitutes are largely employed in the prepare.
| ton Of sardines. The bigger fish are put
| up in layers with whole spices or mus
| tard, after the manner Of the old-time
Russian sardines. Two or three factories still
| pack few cans annually Of large herring bear.
| ing the trade name Of brook trout" but the
brand has never been received with conspicu-
| Gus favor.
WHERE SMALL HERRING ABOUND.
The small herring used by the sardine indus.
try are very abundant all along the Maine coast
east Of the Penobscot. They seem to prefer bold
and rocky shore, about which they gather in
large numbers for the purpose Of feeding. I'm
| til recently favorite method of catching them
was by ''torching," which was plan adopted
from the Indians, who used it for ever SO long
before the white man landed upon the shores
Of America. According to this process Q wire
basket filed with blazing birch bark
lb ucpcllOeu IN Vi tuc DOW Ol boat.
which is rowed along the shore at a moderate
speed while a man stands forward with a dip
net and scoops in by the bushel the fish as they
gather, attracted by the light Year by year
the supply Of birch bark has diminished and
the fishermen have been obliged to 20 farther
and farther after it. Many OF them
substituted for IL cotton batting sat
urated with kerosene; but this excited
unfavorabie notice from the weir fishermen,
who claimed that the continued dropping OF
oil upon the water was likely to drive the fish
away from the shore. Accordingly, a law has
been revived in Canadian waters prohibiting
this practice. A curious belief is generally
accepted among the fisher folk to the effect
that herring caught with torches do not keep
fresh nearly SO long as those captured in weirs,
by which nearly all Of the crop is at present
obtained for market.
.. HOW THEY ARE CAUGHT.
Formerly the fish were brought to the can
neries by the men who caught them, but the
desire Of the Gamers to secure the largest pos
sible quantities led them to introduce the prac-
tice OF sending for the fish. which has since
become universal. A feet of 125 boats, with
about 200 men, are now regularly employed in
collecting and running them to the factories
All have holds in the center, covered with
matches to protect the herring from the sun
and from the water. When there IL q calm
small steamer tows the boats.
The making Of the tin cans or boxes in which
the products are packed is quite an important
branch Of the work at q cannery. Two sets of
men are employed, the canmakers, who ma
pipr1ata he r,acb;nes Nv wbirb h. q. .,X