CRAB INDUSTRY OF CHESAPEAKE BAY. 23 
wooden rockers under the box and two on the side. During the 
steaming the box is kept steady by blocks placed under the ends of 
the rockers. When these are removed the entire cooker may easily 
be rolled over on to the rockers on the side and propped in a sloping 
position with the top lower than the bottom. The crabs can then 
be removed readily. 
Two firms at Annapolis, Md., use cookers made from wooden 
barrels (Pl. IX, fig. 2). Two or more barrels are connected with the 
steam pipes in ah a way that each may be operated independently. 
The pipe enters the side of the barrel (which stands upright) near 
the bottom and branches into the form of a U. Numerous openings 
along the U permit the exit of the steam. There are small holes in 
the bottom of the barrel to allow the water from the condensed 
steam to drain out. The crabs are placed directly in the barrels, 
no baskets being used. A gunny sack is placed over the top and 
on this the barrel lid. <A eee a hand-operated crane admit of the 
barrels being lifted independently and swung over the picking 
tables, where the crabs are dumped. 
PICKING CRAB MEAT.—When the other kinds of cookers are used, 
however, the cooked crabs are carried, usually in wire baskets, to 
the picking tables. These are of various sorts, one being represented 
in Plate X, figure 1. Others consist of a mere flat-topped table of pine 
boards or a shelf extending along the wall. The back shells are 
first removed and preserved separately. The meat is then ‘ picked” 
out from the body of the crab, a sharp-pointed knife being used in 
the process. The picking is usually done by women or girls, though 
boys and occasionally men are employed. At Virginia points the 
pickers are Negroes. In Maryland white pickers as well as colored 
are employed, the two races sometimes working together in the same 
house. The amount picked out by each person is weighed or 
measured at intervals and.an individual score kept, payment usually 
being made each Saturday. Payment is made according to the 
gallons or pounds of meat prepared. An experienced picker can 
prepare from 60 to 70 pounds of meat a day. 
The crab meat is divided into three grades, depending on the 
region of the body from which it is taken. The three are usually 
kept separate by the pickers and quoted separately on the market. 
The “‘lump” meat is considered to be the best and commands the 
highest price. It consists of the meat from the muscles which 
operate the swimming legs, or back fins. The ‘‘white” or “flake” 
meat ranks next in value and is made up from the remaining muscles 
of the body with the exception of the claws. The ‘‘claw,” as the 
meat from the last is known, ranks lowest in price because of its 
dark color, though it is considered by many to have the best flavor 
of the three grades. 
The three kinds of meat are packed separately in tin cans (PI. VI, 
fig. 1), with perforations in the bottom, and varying in capacity from 1 
pound to 5. The cans of meat are packed in barrels with ice and 
phipned by express. 
ne gallon of meat weighs 5 pounds. From 3 to 4 gallons of 
meat may be picked from 1 barrel of crabs. This depends largely 
on the condition of the crabs, whether they are “fat” or poor.” 
In the spring and summer, crabs are usually poor; that is, the muscles 
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