The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-10-13
FRENCH StRDTNTS
Method Of Catching and Canning the Tish
tolIoved la brittany.

Tho general impression that alinosf any
kind Of small fish tina il good Tor nothing
else may b. turned into the sartinc -
with tho aid 81 a tin can aud
some oil is not altogether unfound"d. hut
the real -ardine il the French. A bulletin
Of the United States Fish Commission Just;
issued contains an interesting account ~
this French sardine industry, which was
prepared for II 10y Hugh NJ Smith.
More than si,co.opo worth 81 French
sardines are imported annually hv this
country, and the sardine Is the leading fish
ing product taken m French waters. The
term sariinc il a general one and cannot
H. restricted 10 any particular fish. some
writer's have contsnded that the frencu
sardine. like the -ardine OF New England
is simply the young Of some herring ny"
fish. The differences between the CALI
fornia and the Maine and the French sHr-
dine or plchard are not great. The oom.
mercial superiority Of the last Is largely
due 10 the way IL is caught and prepared
To-day the province Of Brittany Is ,Ls
centre Of this industry. More than 2O,N"p
fishermen and about 5000 boats are ON
ployed In catching sardlnes in the waters
Of brittany. In regard TO the method OF
catching the f-h Mr.. Smith says;
In uarts OF Brittany nets were formerly
used IL surround the schools, and then
stones were thrown ia 10 Brighten the fshe-
into the meshes In this way large catches
were often made, and the market Was
gll,ted. but tho method came into di-r"-
pu,e and l. no longer followed flshing -
now carried on exclusively with gu re''
made OF very fine cotton Irvine. The nos
arr dyed a bright %greeni-h hluol and Nhe'
suspended from the mlasts 70 Dry adl -
the picturesquensSs OF the fshing bos't
and the wharf scenes Tn dyeing "a i'r
the two-fold purpose 81 preserving the nets
and rendering them less conspicuous when
in the water
sardines The gathering 81 small shr'ihl,,
like animals which are one oi IN" na'GTal
| foods OF the sardine In the hays and coNeS'
Is one Of the occupations Of the women.
Ian, uo, enough can ~ secured, ana ihls
halt - supplemented with the sat"u estt
| 81 the cod, hake, paddock, herring Anu
macksrel Sariincs are caught ~thfnus'.u.
The wear The fishing IL mostly done ai.hg
, shor,.. though al times when hai' Il u-~d no
boats 20 n shore eight or ten miles
Tho casting - the bait. on IN" proier
uso Of which a great deal oi ~" tuN"~s
~ sshius den.nds. T. always done Nv m"
master ~ ua,rou. who stands In the stern
~ lie bat on q httla platform and Uses
The 70 as required When the nsh nav"
come toward the surface ana ar" on orc
Aid. or the other - the net his ohl~c' -
Ia cast the bait in such a way that th"I wa
rush against the net and tTcoine gii''
n IL interesting a. note that woman
represent the canning factories a. Iul-
chasing agents hHcaus' they are an. y,
make sharper bargains than tho men l",
nav in tokens ur tickets which are re-ie"f'ri
weekly Tie canning factories are USUALLY
large stone structures tn" yearly ohi-
M "A individual factories n from N'''H
up to S.eD..a hoNes Almost every oanh",,
has some slight popularity IN m"th"n '-
pr,paration which he thinks adNaniag-'Ns
and worth k,eping a. hlur-olt ,rntlAt N'Nl''is
mn mt WplTslmtN az the faHfNTlf-
When the fish reach IN" factory i'"E
arr spread on long tables ana slriH'
with salt. Women dress them WIN CIV
rapiditv Then th" fish ar" sorted W''
80 tnh~ Of strong brine in which iU'v
remain from thirty minutes - an hour
AID arrrward they are PLACID ~ Nl'.'-
baskets and washed Drying - IN" NV
pr,o,,--, prci"rahiy IN th" ui"n AR Il"
hsh A.. arranged hv hand ~ Nir~ lasN'i4
for thus purpos" ahd a. iaN"iaue """'"
Fr,m tho driving hakes the fish ara
'.k.u I'm the Samc VII" baskets % no
cooking room "a Immersed IN builiis
oil. in oJ.n yat- Ia" immersion usually
a.ts about Two minutes The baskets
4Ta then removed tp a table or pat
form with an inclned metal Top. wh"r"
the surplus oil j. allowed go dtain from
,na n.h After a few minutes the BASKETS
ara taken e. the packing rom. "hrIn
,l.v ar. hung pa wooden frames "'e,,
metal top tables for further draining ana
cooling
Tho sard,ue manufacturers employ
Two kinds e ul IN their canning ol-''.
,isns olive oil and arach1dr 'r i~ahNt
ol, and small quantities 81, sesame ''
have at times 6"cn USED While " l. I'
p1rtad that the manufacturer KNOW
inglv handle only the oils named, .
understood that ~cpttonsc-d oil. h@''s
ta-t"ls~- and cheap. - Used by W" tf'i.N
,h-dealcr~ Tor adult"rattug 10th ""N~
AMI r-.auuf ol n l. tui" resting T.
that during th. hscal wear I've The li.d
~ ,rs- exported b. Franc" ueafly I' ~
gallons = c~,ttou-',d al. having d '''"
- saUn.s
The sardines arr packed IN Nh 80
% "a variety e lfs~ AMI shaf~r
va and then tho CHrs arc uuu'f-"i II.
boiling water fur two hours fu v0ui 20
the cpuking ruN~n 10" i'n's Nal
kN ~. tsrt.rA Tie pr'dur - '''A
r-adV fUr tNe mAfs"f
In COMPARING 'lD VARIOUS grtdo- =
~,ariu.- W. smith snys ihaf Oh" t-rt
puantv = 90. Ir~uHH Hai fF v"fI4 '
b.. L. o." L.H.