94 CRAB INDUSTRY OF CHESAPEAKE BAY. 
are shrunken and the tissues watery and not as much meat will be 
yielded. In late summer, fall, and early winter the crabs are fat, 
the muscles being full and yielding the best returns. 
SHELLS.—The back shells, ‘‘shells”’ being the trade name, are first 
‘knocked out”’ (Pl. X, fig. 2); thatis, the portions of the reproductive 
organs and liver (both together popularly called “fat’’) which 
adhere to the shells are removed, usually by boys. The shells are 
then placed in large wire crates or baskets and washed by methods 
varying from a mere dip in sea water to a careful cleansing in vats 
of hot water (Pl. XI). For drying they are in some cases spread on 
shallow trays about 10 feet long by 4 feet wide (Pl. XII, fig. 1), 
consisting of a frame of narrow boards with a bottom of chicken-wire 
fencing. The trays are arranged in tiers in a shed with open sides 
(Pl. XII, fig.1). In other cases the shells are spread, after washing, on 
a floor or on a wharf until dry. The shells are used in the prepara- 
tion of deviled crabs, a certain number being sent in cartons or 
barrels with the shipments of meat. 
Cannina.—The canning of the meat is practiced by only two 
firms, both located at Hampton. In the case of one of these it is 
a very small feature of the business, but in the other case it is the 
main part of their trade, the shipping of fresh iced meat being a side 
issue. For the es of canning, the methods of cooking and 
picking described above obtain. This firm uses the cars for cooking 
( Pl. VIII, fig.2). All threegrades of meat arecanned together, the sizes 
of the cans ranging from a capacity of from 4 to 16 ounces. The 
meat keeps indefinitely, as in the case of other canned products. 
The actual methods employed in the canning process are kept secret. 
Scrap.—The “scrap” or waste remnants of shell, left after the 
meat has been extracted, is sold to fertilizer factories. It is removed 
on barges by water (Pl. XII, fig. 2) or by carts on land (PI. VII, 
fig. 2). There are several factories, one being located at Bellevue, 
d., one at Crisfield, Md., and one on Back River, Va., and others 
at various points. 
PRICES AND WAGES. 
SOFT CRABS. 
The prices paid the crabbers and received by shippers vary with 
the seasons of the year. The average price received by shippers 
at Crisfield, in 1916, was, for primes 80 cents per dozen, highest 
$1.15 to $1.25; mediums 55 cents, highest 75 cents; culls 30 cents, 
highest 40 cents. In the season of 1917 the crabbers were paid 
from 2 to 3 cents apiece for soft crabs and peelers. 
HARD CRABS. 
The prices paid by the packers vary from about $1 per barrel 
during July and August to $4 and even $5 or $6 during February 
and March. The barrels, however, are of two sizes, the trot-line 
men using slat barrels and the dredgers sugar barrels, the former 
holding two-thirds as much as the latter. At Hampton some 
dealers buy the crabs by weight, paying the crabbers from 1 to 3 
cents a pound. A slat barrel will hold about 110 pounds of crabs, 
