256 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



iuclies flit of the water, Tilietber to catcli guats or for mere sport I am 

 unable to say. I remarked to one of the men dipping' them that he was 

 taking a good fare, and iie replied that what 1 now sav/ was not a "ilea 

 bite" to what was taken last year, when a man and liis son dip})ed 

 70,000 from that very jdace in a single day, he being "high liner" for 

 1883. This method of taking alewives with eels was entirely new to 

 me, and thinking possibly it might also be so to you I venture to ad- 

 iress you in relation to it. 

 Knox Hotel, Thomaston, Me., 3Tay 10, 1884. 



137.— ©JV TSaE CUI^TBVATIOIV OF SOFT.SiBEI.Ii CKABS. 



By. CMAS5I.es C, l^ESl^lE. 



In our harbor and along our coast are found millions of the common 

 blue sea-crab, and I have for the past two years been considering why 

 it is that, with the number that are to be found here, we cannot get a 

 supply of soft-shell crabs. The same crabs are found along the coast of 

 Maryland and other States adjacent, and yet I have hunted and failed 

 to tind many. At one time I found three and at another tiir.e four. But 

 in no instance have I fofind a half dozen, even after hunting a whole 

 day. 



I would be greatly obliged to you if you would kindly tell me if there 

 is any artificial way by which 1 could secure a suppl3\ 



CHARLESTOiSr, S. C, Ajjril 24, 1884. 



liEPLT BY professor BAIRD. 



If you have the same blue crab (which I jiresume to be the case) as 

 the one furnishing the -'soft-shells" of the Chesapeake Bay, there is no 

 reason why you should not find them in this condtion, which is merely 

 their state after the old shell has been thrown off and the new one is 

 being formed. 



You might try the experiment of penning up the crabs in a shoal 

 I)ond, fed by the tide, into which small fish and other marine refuse can 

 be brought by the tide through a grating. 



By taking flat stones, bundles of brush, or other substances of a sim- 

 ilar character, and laying them over the bottom, you furnish a refuge 

 under which the crabs can crawl. By lifting up these branches from 

 time to time you can find the crabs under them. 



This process has, I belie^'e, been actually made the subject of a pat- 

 ent, but the inventor is dead, and the patent, probably, has long since 

 run out. 



Of course the defenceless crabs are readily devoured by their stronger 

 relations, and it is therefore advisable to keep them where they can 

 be properly protected from such destruction. 



Washington, J). C, A2ml 26, 1884. 



