To fully describe all the kinds of fish found in our markets would require too much space and is unneccessary, but a list of those of which there is usually a supply is given, that housekeepers may know what it is best to select in a certain season and have some idea of the prices.

How To Select Fish

When fresh, the skin and scales will be bright, the eyes full and clear, the fins stiff and the body firm. If there is a bad odor, or, if the fish is soft and darker than is usual for that kind, and has dim, sunken eyes, it is not fit to use.

Codfish. This is good all the year, but best in the fall and winter. When cooked, it breaks into large white flakes. It is not as nutritious as the darker kinds of fish, but is more easily digested. The price remains about the same through all seasons.

Haddock

This is a firmer and smaller-flaked fish than the cod, but varies little in flavor from it. The cod has a light stripe running down the sides; the haddock a dark one.

Cusk

This also belongs to the cod family, and is a firm, white fish. It is best in winter.

Pollock

This is used mostly for salting. It is much like the cod, only firmer grained and drier.

Halibut

This fine fish is always good. It varies in weight from two pounds to three hundred. The flesh is a pearly white in a perfectly fresh fish. That cut from one weighing from fifty to seventy-five pounds is the best, the flesh of any larger being coarse and dry. The small fish are called chicken halibut.

Flounders

These are thin, flat fish, often sold under the name of sole. Good at all times of the year.

Turbot

This is a flat fish, weighing from two to twenty pounds. The flesh is soft, white and delicate. Turbot is not common in our market.

Salmon

Salmon is in season from April to July, but is in its prime in June. It is often found in the market as early as January, when it brings a high price. Being very rich, a much smaller quantity should be provided for a given number of people than of the lighter kinds of fish.

Shad

This is in season in the Eastern and Middle States from March to April, and in the Southern States from November to February. The flesh is sweet, but full of small bones Shad is much prized for the roe.

Blue-Fish

This is a rich, dark fish, weighing from two to eight pounds' and in season in June, July and August. It is particularly nice broiled and baked.

Black-Fish, Or Tautog

Good all the year, but best in the spring. It is not a large fish, weighing only from one to five pounds.

White-Fish, Or Lake Shad

This delicious fish is found in the great lakes, and in the locality where caught it is always in season. At the South and in the East the market is supplied only in winter, when the price is about eighteen cents a pound. The average weight is between two and three pounds.