"AN ACT regulating the seining of menhaden in the rivers of the commonwealth.

"(Ch. 52.) SECTION 1. Be it enacted, The mayor and aldermen of any city or the selectmen of any town situated upon or adjacent to any river in which the seining of the fish is now or may hereafter by law be prohibited, may, upon the petition of twelve or more legal voters, and after due notice and hearing thereon, grant permission to such persons, upon such condition and with such restrictions as they may see fit, to seine menhaden therein, if, in their judgment, the same is consistent with the public good: Provided, however, That in all cases where two or more cities or towns are situated upon such waters and interested in said fishery, no action shall be had except upon petition to each of them, and by their concurrent vote.

"SEC. 2. If any person so licensed shall exceed in any manner the terms of said permission, or violate any of the conditions thereof, he shall be subject to the same penalties as would attach to seining without such license.

"SEC. 3. Such license may be altered or revoked at any time, by the concurrent action of the municipal authorities granting the same."[March 15, 1858.

"AN ACT relating to the taking of menhaden in the waters of Buzzard's Bay and Vincyard Sound.

[1856, ch. 176. Additional act, 1870, ch. 249.]

"(Ch. 212.) SECTION 1. Be it enacted, From and after the passage of this act it shall be lawful for any person to take menhaden by the use of the purse-seine, so called, in the waters of Buzzard's Bay or of Vineyard Sound, or the waters of any bays, inlets, or rivers bordering ou or flowing into the same: Provided, That no authority shall be hereby given to use any such seine at the mouth of any river where there now is or where there may hereafter be a herring fishery established by law, until after the fifteenth day of June, in each year: And provided further, That no authority shall be hereby given to use any seine in the waters around Nantucket or the islands belonging thereto."—[May 9, 1865.

In the report of the commissioners of iuland fisheries for 1877, p. 65, it is stated:

"Fishing with seines in the Merrimac, at the season when the menhaden stand in, is forbidden by law. The mouth of the river has, however, never been defined by the governor, as permitted by statute; and it was represented to the commissioners that valuable menhaden fisheries existed in this neutral ground of brackish water. Therefore, under the personal promise of the fishermen to capture no shad or salmon, and with the guarantee of responsible persons in Newburyport, the commissioners agreed to defer the definition of the river-mouth, and to assume that these menhaden were not positively included in the river proper."

K.-ECONOMICAL VALUE AND APPLICATION.

35.-THE MENHADEN AS A TABLE-FISH.

Its use in a fresh state.

185. In many parts of the United States menhaden are in favor as table-fishes. When perfectly fresh they are superior in flavor to most of the common shore-fishes, but if kept they soon acquire a rancid and oily flavor. The Maine fisherman finds his breakfast of fried pogies both substantial and palatable. I can testify from personal experience that a bony-fish chowder is not to be despised.

They are often eaten in the vicinity of Newburyport, under the name of "hard-head shad." They are considered more palatable than the early runs of the river shad.

I am indebted to Mr. Barnet Phillips, of the New York "Times," for the information that in 1813, during a season of scarcity, large numbers of moss bunkers, both fresh and smoked, were consumed in New York City. It does not appear probable that they were ever extensively used for food except in seasons of scarcity.

Professor Gill, writing in 1856 of the fishes of New York, remarks that moss-bunkers appear in the markets in the fall months, but in small quantities.

Storer remarks* that the fishermen who supply Boston market with codfish set their nets about the outer islands in the harbor each night as they come up to the city, and examine them in the morning as they go out for the day's fishing. Large numbers of menhaden are thus taken, frequently one hundred barrels at a haul, and such as are not used for bait are sold to the poorer classes for food, at about 6 cents per dozen.

The Rev. A. W. Church, editor of the Middletown (Conn.) "Constitution," informs me that the moss-bunker is a staple article of food among the people living on the sea-coast of New Jersey in the vicinity of Bricksburg, Somers Point, etc., and ten or fifteen miles inland. Every family makes a practice of salting down a barrel or two for winter use. They are preferred to any other fish which can be taken in that vicinity.

In the fall and winter the alewife is in good demand on the shores of Chesapeake Bay. In November and early part of December, 1874, I frequently saw twenty or thirty strings on the tables in the Washington fish market and they seemed to meet with a ready sale at 40 cents a string, a price nearly as high as that of striped bass, the favorite fish in Washington.

At Cape Hatteras the winter fish are in demand and are salted in quantity for summer use. In 1873 they sold for $7 a barrel. The summer fish are used only as fertilizers.

* Hist. Fish. Mass., p. 159.

The abundance of bones and the oily flavor have given rise to a prejudice against the menhaden as a food-fish, which the oil factories on the coast have done much to confirm. Still the fish is not unpalatable, and is capable of much valuable service in the capacity of a table-fish.

Its use salted.

186. For many years salted menhaden have been shipped from Gloucester to the West Indies and Guiana, to serve as food for the negroes upon the plantations. These fish are not carefully prepared, but are chiefly the surplusage of the bait supply remaining in the hands of outfitters of fishing vessels at the close of the season. They sell for about $2 per barrel. Mr. F. W. Homans ships from 1,500 to 2,000 barrels annually to Surinam. These would weigh from 300,000 to 400,000 pounds, and be worth in the aggregate some three or four thousand dollars. Other individuals doubtless dispose of their refuse stock in the same manner.

Capt. Moses Pettingell, of Newburyport, informs me that about the year 1840, and before, large quantities were annually salted down in Newburyport, to supply a regular market in the West Indies. Salted menhaden were found to meet with a readier sale than salted mackerel, since, while little inferior in quality, when well prepared, they could be sold at a much lower price.

In the "Topography and History of Wareham," 1815, it is stated that the inhabitants of Wareham and Plymouth were accustomed to vote to allow a certain number of barrels of alewives to be taken annually from the brooks within town limits, and that "menhaden were also taken in quantity at Wareham and barreled for exportation in former years."*

It is stated by the editor of Forest and Stream† that some Brooklyn people have a patented process for extracting the bones and superfluous oil from the menhaden or moss-bunkers, hitherto useless as food, and then salting the fish, which they claim are fully equal to No. 3 mackerel. Thus all parts are utilized.

Salt mackerel at times replaced by menhaden.

187. The inspection returns of Massachusetts show a curious relation between the annual returns of salted menhaden, alewives, shad, and mackerel. An examination of the table given in Appendix G shows that an effort was made during the season of scarcity in the mackerel fisheries to supply the demand by the use of menhaden.

The question of drawback on salt.

188. Capt. Fitz J. Babson, collector of customs for the port of Gloucester, states that the question yearly comes up as to whether the menhaden fishermen are entitled to privileges under the law granting

Collections of the | Massachusetts | Historical Society | second series. Boston: | printed MDCCCXVI|: p. 284.

+ Vol. II, 1874, p. 215.

vol. iv. of the

drawback on salt used in pickling, nets, and fish. This discussion brings. on the question whether menhaden are or are not "food-fishes." The decision has usually been made that they are food-fishes.

36.-FOOD PREPARATIONS DERIVED FROM MENHADEN.

The manufacture of sardines.

189. On the coast of New Jersey, near Port Monmouth, are several factories, which carry on an extensive business in canning menhaden in oil and spices. One of the largest of these is that of the American Sardine Company, a representation of which is given in Plate XXIV. Mr. F. F. Beals, of New York, gives the following description of the methods in use in this establishment:

"We aim to have cur catch of moss-bunkers in by 6 or 7 o'clock a. m., as the fish seem to be strongly impregnated with phosphorus and soou spoil in warm weather. As soon as the fish are landed, we put our entire force of men to cleaning, cutting, and scaling, for which we have machines adapted. When the fish are cleaned, they are at once put in hogs. heads, and salted just sufficiently to keep and to remove their extreme freshness. They are then packed in cooking cans, which are a little larger than the packing cans, and put into the tanks, where they are steamed for the space of about two hours. After the fish are taken out, they are placed in the regular market cans, which are then laid upon zinccovered tables, where they are filled with salad oil. They then go to the tinners, who solder on the lids, after which the can is again steamed and vented, and passed up into the cleaning and labeling room. Each day's work is piled up separately, each can being thoroughly tested to see that it is perfectly air-tight. For this we have an experienced hand. Not a can is packed until it has stood for at least a month. At the expiration of this time, after being again tested, the cans are packed in wooden cases containing two dozen each, and are then ready for the market. As we make all our tin cases, we are able to secure good results, and it is a rare occurrence to have a swollen can. If there is one, it is at once thrown aside.

"Our company was incorporated April 21, 1871, under the laws of the State of New York. Seeing the magnitude of the sardine business on the other side of the Atlantic, we were impressed with the idea that there was a large field for operations in this country alone. We at once set about to find a fish which would supply the place of the European sardine. After many experiments, we at last found one to suit the purpose, viz, the moss-bunker, and commenced a series of experiments to find a means of extracting or softening the bones without the use of acids of any kind. After over a year of experiment, we at last found the desired process, which we secured under United States letters patent, dated May 21, 1872. This process consists of varous modes of steaming until the bones become so soft that they can be eaten, like the flesh of the fish, without the slightest inconvenience. The two first years most of our time was con

sumed in experimenting, so that it was not until a year ago that we really commenced to manufacture, though prior to that we put up some goods. Last year, 1873, we packed and sold about 30,000 dozen whole cans or boxes. We have now capacity to turn out double that amount and we expect to be obliged to do so, as our trade is rapidly increasing. Our goods have received various awards, including a medal of merit at Vienna in 1873, and a silver medal at Bremen in 1874."

During the season of 1877, the works of the American Sardine Company were not in operation. Mr. Beals, the secretary, informs me that the manufacture will be pressed strongly in 1878.

The qualities of American sardines.

190. Many persons are incredulous with regard to the possibility of manufacturing sardines of good quality from the menhaden. It need only be said that they have been carefully tested by many unprejudiced judges in the city of Washington, and that the verdict has always been that they were almost equal to French sardines of the best brands. There can be no reasonable doubt that if olive oil of good quality were to be substituted for the cotton-seed oil now used in the preparation of American sardines, they would be fully equal to similar articles imported from abroad.

The American sardines should be carefully distinguished from the sardines prepared at Eastport, Me., from young herrings; they are sealed up in tin cases imported ready-made from France, and are put upon the market in the guise of foreign goods-a misrepresentation which is not at all necessary, since they are quite as good as the articles with which they profess to be identical.

Menhaden preserved in spices.

191. There are other establishments near Port Monmouth which prepare menhaden in spices and vinegar under the trade names of "Shad ine," ""Ocean Trout," and "American Club-fish." I have been unable to obtain statistics of this branch of manufacture. Hoope & Coit, of New York, contributed samples of these preparations to the Centennial collection of the United States Fish Commission, and I suppose this firm to be engaged in the manufacture.

"Russian sardines" are prepared at Eastport, Me., from the herring, and are branded with spurious names and labels imported from Germany. Mr. Barnet Phillips describes, in the New York Times, a visit to the "ocean-trout" manufactory at Port Monmouth. He writes: "If the name of the salmonidæ be taken a little in vain, the trout manufactured out of moss-bunkers are by no means to be despised. "Ocean trout" may not be the garum cooked with Tragasœan salt, but is a fair fishfood and as an alimentary substance is in good demand. The process of manufacture is simple. The fresh fish are scaled by machinery, by means of a revolving wheel, are then cooked in steam, packed into