coarse alum salt at the bottom, then put in a layer of herrings—­take care not to bruise them; sprinkle over it alum salt and some saltpetre, then fish, salt, and saltpetre, till the barrel is full; keep a board over it.  Should they not make brine enough to cover them in a few weeks, you must add some, for they will be rusty if not kept under brine.  The proper time to salt them is when they are quite fat:  the scales will adhere closely to a lean herring, but will be loose on a fat one—­the former is not fit to be eaten.  Do not be sparing of salt when you put them up.  When they are to be used, take a few out of brine, soak them an hour or two, scale them nicely, pull off the gills, and the only entrail they have will come with them; wash them clean and hang them up to dry.  When to be broiled, take half a sheet of white paper, rub it over with butter, put the herring in, double the edges securely, and broil without burning it.  The brine the herrings drink before they die, has a wonderful effect in preserving their juices:  when one or two years old, they are equal to anchovies.

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To bake sturgeon.

Get a piece of sturgeon with the skin on, the piece next to the tail, scrape it well, cut out the gristle, and boil it about twenty minutes to take out the oil; take it up, pull off the large scales, and when cold, stuff it with forcemeat, made of bread crumbs, butter, chopped parsley, pepper and salt, put it in a Dutch oven just large enough to hold it, with a pint and a half of water, a gill of red wine, one of mushroom catsup, some salt and pepper, stew it gently till the gravy is reduced to the quantity necessary to pour over it; take up your sturgeon carefully, thicken the gravy with a spoonful of butter rubbed into a large one of brown flour;—­see that it is perfectly smooth when you put it in the dish.

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To make sturgeon cutlets.

The tail piece is the best; skin it and cut off the gristle, cut it into slices about half an inch thick, sprinkle over them pepper and salt, dredge them with flour, and fry them a nice light brown; have ready a pint of good gravy, seasoned with catsup, wine, and a little pounded cloves, and thickened with brown flour and butter; when the cutlets are cold, put them into the gravy and stew them a few minutes; garnish the dish with nice forcemeat balls and parsley fried crisp.

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Sturgeon steaks.

Cut them as for the cutlets, dredge them, and fry them nicely; dish them quickly lest they get cold; pour over melted butter with chopped parsley, and garnish with fried parsley.

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To boil sturgeon.

Leave the skin on, which must be nicely scraped, take out the gristle, rub it with salt, and let it lie an hour, then put it on in cold water with some salt and a few cloves of garlic; it must be dredged with flour before it is put into the water, skim it carefully, and when dished, pour over it melted butter with chopped parsley, a large spoonful of mushroom catsup, one of lemon pickle, and one of pepper vinegar; send some of it to table in a sauce boat;—­the sturgeon being a dry fish, rich sauce is necessary.