New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-28
CANADIAN CAVIARE.
MOST OF THE DELICACY SOLD IN THIS
COUNTRY AS RUSSIAN COMES FROM
THE LAKE OF THE WOODS.


Correspondence OF The Toronto Globe.
An important industry and one little known
OF in the East Is the fishing industry OF the
Lake of the Woods: yet the fish production or
the lake has reached immense proportions, and
is proving an important factor in the prosperity
OF the district. One fact that Is not commonly
known is that from the Lake Of the Woods
comes nearly all the caviare consumed in the
American markets. 1t il Russian caviare to
the general public. but it is only Lake OF the
Woods caviare bearing a Continental label. and
exporters Of the article state that only the in
ferior grades find their way back to this coun-
try. for the best of it goes to the tables OF
European epicures.
The Lake of the Woods has total area OF
over six thousand square miles. and its waters
abound with fish OF all kinds. The most i'm
portant fish IN the lake are the sturgeon, and 1t
is these to which the fishermen devote the most
attention. They range in weight up to 10 and
occasionally 200 pounds apiece, and sell in car
lots at about 4 cents pound. The sturgeon
are TO be met with in all parts Of the lake. but
the most prolific stretches Of water are in the
southern portions Of the lake, where the water
is shallow and the bottom sandy. There are tho
surgeons feeding grounds Several seasons
ago the water In the lake higher than
usual. ard much of the ow-lying ground sur
rounding the shore lines was flooded The
sturgeon followed the overflow finding new
feeding places in the shoal water and they thus
evaded the nets. and the fishermen had poorer
returns fO- their labor The attention paid to
the sturgeon. however is resulting badly to the
fish. and experts say that unless measures are
taken shortly to reduce the take of sturgeon
the fish will be exterminated. so far as COM
mercial purposes concerned.
The caviare is the chief product Of the stur-
geon. and to II the most attention is paid.
After the fish is killed and the head cut off it il
carefully cleaned. the caviare being set aside in
tanks. When the catch has been disposed Of
the cayiare is then taken and washed repeatedly
until it is thoroughly clean. after which it is
rubbed by hand through series of screens
until all the eggs are separated That is all
hn fG nnpln rod in
pound kegs with d salt specially imported from
Germany ard kept in cold storage until tina
time for shipment arrives. when ii Is sent to
London. England and to Germany. number
of experiments have been made with Canadian
and American salts. but so far they have not
proved good the salt brought from over
the ocean. on arriving in Europe the kegs are
opened and the cayiare is sorted out according
to quality 1t is then put ~ in small lead pack
ages and tins and sold as Russian caviare The
best grades find a ready sale in the old coun-
try where they command the highest prices.
The Canadian Caviare is good as, and in many
cases better than. the Russian cayiare, and
difficulty is found in dsposing OF it, The in
feriOr grades are reshipped to America, where
the demand and appetite for cavare is not 50
cxaetng as in Europe. Here. too. ii is known
Russian caviare. In this respect il much re-
sembles the California champagne which is sent
to France in bulk. where ii is bottled and
shipped across the Atlantic again TO tickle the
palates of thirsty Americans who have a weak
ness for French wines. Tho proper way 10 eat
=
thinly buttered over which is gpread a layer
of the caviare; on that is just little grated
onion. with lemon juice over the whole.
Up to a few years ago all the caviare sold in
the Lake of the Woods country passed through
the hands of American commission houses and
their profits were consequently loss to the
local fishermen. but now the latter deal direct
with the European cayiarc men. The price paid
for cavarc has been steadily increasing each
year. Last year it was from go TO 40 cents q
round. and it is understood that the fishermen
have been offered in advance 4 much higher
figure for their entire production for this sea-
son. Two years ago the price was only 30
cents a pound. The caVlare "A htsle more than
doubles the value of the sturgeon. and the
latter brings in to the fishermen from cent
to a cent and a half to two cents pound more
than the ordinary scale fish, its value to the
toilerS of this inland lake can he appreciated.
In view IF the heavy profits which have to be
raid in shipping out the fish it is doubtful il the
industry could ba carried on successfully IL the
ca tchng of sturgeon prohibited.
The following table shows the catch of stur-
geUn and the production Of caviare from the
American waters Of the Lake Of the Woods:
1891 1895. 1896
Pounds Pounds. Pounds.
Canadian surseon........ go. 900 10000 5fc.0o@
aware .................. 5000 FOOD 1000
American sturgeon 4. OO0O0O / fhO coo $4,000
Csviare .................. 100. 900 $4,000 53Ood
In 1891 the Canadian waters Of the lake pro-
1uced 2l4. lJ4 pounds Of sturgeon and 81 $50
pounds Of caviare. valued approximately at
$4,000. The American figures not yet
for 1897
HORSE MEAT P4TTTES FOR GIME.