276 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA 



fresh shrimp cannot be obtained for the preparation 

 of shrimp salad and other shrimp dishes. 



The drying of shrimp is a much older industry, 

 but the product is not so generally used. Dry shrimps 

 are not as valuable as fresh or canned shrimp, so 

 that only the surplus shrimp and those which are too 

 small to be canned, or those which are caught far 

 from a canning factory, are preserved in this way. 



Shrimp are dried on large wooden platforms 

 erected near the water's edge. Occasionally a single 

 platform is forty thousand square feet in area, hold- 

 ing a hundred thousand pounds of shrimp, but most 

 of them are much smaller. The floor of the platform 

 is gently undulating in an ocean- wave effect, with the 

 waves about two feet in height and thirty feet apart. 



As the shrimp are unloaded they are washed in 

 dip-nets. They are then placed in large kettles filled 

 with boiling brine and boiled for half an hour, during 

 which they turn from colorless to bright red. When 

 sufficiently cooked, the shrimp are dipped from the 

 kettles into wheelbarrows, in which 'they are drained 

 and then transported to the drying platforms, where 

 they are spread out in layers two to three inches in 

 depth. The shrimp are turned by means of rakes 

 several times every day. At night, and whenever rain 

 threatens, the shrimps are pushed on to the ridges 

 in long windrows. An A-shaped truss is placed 

 astride each windrow, which is then covered with tar- 

 paulin to keep off rain and dew. Even though it 

 rains hard, the shrimp are not wet, since the water 

 all drains away from the ridges. When the shrimp 

 are thoroughly dry, they are pushed into large 



