118 COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 



killing or mutilating one another, or at least in scraping off the eggs. 

 Tying their claws with string or wire, winding with canvas bandages, 

 or putting on mittens made of some cheap cloth, and plugging the 

 claws with wooden plugs have all been tried. The surest way is to 

 insert wooden plugs just outside of the movable jaw of their claws.. 

 This at first was avoided, for fear of injuring the lobsters, but it was 

 found that very little, if any, injury was caused by this plugging. 

 The use of the claw is very quickly restored after the plug is removed, 

 and the lobster seems to be none the worse for it. This practice is 

 employed by lobstermen everywhere, where lobsters are kept in cars. 

 As the season progresses, usually about the first of May, the 

 lobsters are looked over. One who has had experience can tell at a 

 glance about how soon the eggs of a lobster will hatch. The lobsters 

 that will hatch their eggs about the same time are put in compart- 

 ments together. Too much care cannot be exercised in keeping them 

 picked over. 



7. HATCHING THE EGGS. 



As soon as a lobster's eggs reach the point where they will hatch 

 in two or three hours, the lobsters are transferred to the rearing box, 

 where the paddle is started and they are allowed to roam over the 

 bottom and hatch their eggs in a perfectly natural manner. The 

 paddle in this car should be sufficiently high from the bottom of 

 the car to keep from striking the hen lobsters, and also prevent 

 crowding them into the corners. As many as 100 hen lobsters may 

 be put into one car, but care should be taken not to overcrowd them, 

 because in overcrowded cars the hen lobsters cannot properly care for 

 the eggs, which consequently are apt to spoil. Only enough should be 

 put in to insure the filling of the car with fry in a few hours. Naturally 

 this is a very important factor, because of the cannibalistic habits 

 of the fry, for if lobster fry of varying ages are in the same car the 

 danger of their devouring one another is much greater than as if 

 they are all of the same age, even though this danger is reduced to a 

 minimum in the rearing boxes. The rearing cars containing the egg 

 lobsters should be carefully screened, because the bright light tends to 



