coast some time during the month of May. By this time the young fish are nearly grown to a proper size for catching. The fishing, however, does not really begin until July and is usually finished by November. The little town of Concarneau is the seat of these fisheries. About two thousand small boats go out from this town and at or near this place are also the large canneries and packing establishments. The fishing grounds are about five miles from the coast and the small boats sail out from two to four o'clock in the morning. The fishing is by means of nets and a very important part of the work is the spreading of the bait upon the surface of the water to attract the fish. The principal bait or roque is the roe of the cod, which sometimes reaches a price of $60 per barrel. Sometimes a single boat will use from 30 to 40 barrels of bait. Only the most skilled fisherman, usually the master himself, is allowed to distribute this precious material. As many as one hundred thousand fish have been caught in the net, though this magnitude of catch is, of course, exceptional. When the fish are brought ashore they are counted into baskets, about 200 to a basket, and those unfit for use are thrown out. They are taken to the canneries as quickly as possible to be cleaned, boiled, dipped in oil, and then hermetically sealed into a tin in which they are sent into commerce.
Adulteration.—The chief adulteration of sardines is found in misbranding as to country of origin. The French catch has the highest reputation of any in the world and for this reason the label is often made to represent the fish as of French origin when in reality they are caught on the shores of Spain or of other countries. Formerly the fish were brought in great numbers from the Spanish coast into France. They were naturally much deteriorated in transit. Nevertheless they were tinned and marked as of pure French origin. This practice has now been forbidden by law in France. The Norwegian fish known as Sprötten (sprats) on the German and Holland coasts are packed as sardines and sent into this country as sardines.
Scup.—The scup is a fish (family Sparidæ) which is taken in great abundance on our Atlantic coast in the summer and autumn and is brought in immense quantities to the market. The proper name of the fish is Stenotomus chrysops.
Composition.—
Fresh. Dry.
Water, 74.99 percent
Protein, 18.52 " 75.33 percent
Fat, 5.11 " 19.25 "
Ash, 1.38 5.64 "
The flesh of this fish is a better balanced ration than that of the red snapper, the proportion of fat being much larger.
Shad.—One of the most important food fishes on the Atlantic coast is the shad. It is found along the whole Atlantic coast, coming into fresh water for spawning, where it is caught for food purposes. The shad begin to appear
