GULF OF MEXICO: ALABAMA. 573 



for instance, in the fall hardly 2 gallons are obtained, while in the winter and spring 2 to 3 gallons 

 are taken from one barrel. 



As soon as the oysters have been opened, measured, and drained of their liquor, they are 

 emptied into a large vat that has a strainer-like bottom and are kept cool by means of ice until 

 needed for shipment or canning. To be shipped to any place not far inland they are usually placed 

 in cans varying from 1 to 10 gallons, according to the order, that are not hermetically sealed, but 

 are kept in contact with ice. To be shipped to more distant parts they are placed in square cans, 

 containing from 1 quart to 1 gallon, and are hermetically sealed. This manner is more costly to 

 the purchaser, but is the safer way, for oysters so put up will keep a long time. 



Pickling oysters has been of some importance here, but there is very little done at it now. The 

 method of treatment was, first, to steam the oysters, and then to place them in small, square tin 

 cans with spiced vinegar, the cans afterward being soldered up air-tight. It is said that this busi- 

 ness failed because of much poorly prepared goods being put on the market. In pleasant weather, 

 when the gatherers can work and the boats can easily get to the city with large loads of oysters, 

 the Mobile market becomes overstocked, and it is then difficult to dispose of the catch at any price; 

 but in stormy and cool weather the market is good, for then but few boat-loads come in, partly 

 owing to real difficulties and partly to the indolent indisposition of the oystermen to work when 

 discomfort attaches to it. 



The oysters of Mobile Bay have a high reputation for excellence. The water and soil of the 

 bay, particularly in the eastern arm, called Bon Secour, seem especially well adapted to their 

 growth. The planting-beds are all higher up, where the seed thrives better than below. 



THE GULF OF MEXICO OYSTER COMPANY. Early in 1880 a new concern, to be known as the 

 Gulf of Mexico Oyster Company, began oyster canning and shipping at Mobile, for though their 

 factory was many miles distant, at Scranton, Miss., yet the officers were in Mobile, and the busi- 

 ness contributed to the city. About ninety to one hundred hands, of all ages and sexes, are 

 employed. These live in a little village, which the company has built for the purpose, in the neigh- 

 borhood of their factory. While this company does something in the fresh-oyster trade, their main 

 business is in cooked and canned oysters, which are steamed and sealed in substantially the same 

 way as at Baltimore. One specialty, however, is the putting up of canned fried oysters, after the 

 following patented method : 



From the supply vat, where they are kept cool, the oysters are taken and rolled in meal and 

 fine cracker-dust, and then are dropped, a gallon at a time, into a large kettle of hot fat, which is 

 a mixture of lard, tallow, and stearine, where they are allowed to fry crisp and brown. Next, while 

 still hot, they are packed in small, flat, square tin boxes of about a quart capacity, and the unoc- 

 cupied space is filled with hot fat. The opening in the top of the box is round, and has a cap to 

 fit, which is firmly soldered down, making the box air-tight. Afterward these boxes are labeled 

 and packed in cases, a dozen boxes in a case. It is asserted that oysters prepared in this manner 

 sell readily in all parts of the country, and the demand is much larger than was at first expected. 



The "cove oysters" of this company are simply fresh oysters hermetically sealed in cylindrical 

 cans. 



The capital stock of this company is $25,000. (Another company has recently been projected 

 with a capital stock of $50,000.) Though the capacity of the Scrantou factory is no less than 30,000 

 one-pound cans per day, the product at the time of my visit had been insignificant, owing to various 

 delays in getting well under way. The company will also can shrimp, fruit, and vegetables in 

 season, so that not all the force, capital, and fixtures can be credited to oysters alone; and, inas- 

 7uuch as operations have only begun, I have not added these figures to my totals. The stock which 



