THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTEE INDUSTRY. 47 



There are now 15 canneries in Baltimore, which city stUl leads in 

 number of canneries; 16 in Mississippi, 12 being at Biloxi: 18 in 

 Georgia, 4 at Savannah, 4 in and about Brunswick, and others at 

 smaller points; about 12 in South Carolina; 7 in North Carolina; 

 6 or 7 in Louisiana; and 4 or 5 in Florida. 



Oyster canneries, like raw houses, are located on the water front 

 with a wharf at wliich the oysters are unloaded from the boats. 

 Plate XIV, figure 1, shows a view of an oyster cannery. At most 

 canneries the oysters are unloaded from the boat in large tubs or 

 buckets, as previously described, and dumped directl}^ mto cars 10 or 

 12 feet long, made of iron strips, basket-fasliion, as in Plates XXIII 

 and XXV. The cars are then jnished on a track into the building. 

 Plate XXIII, figure 3, shows a line of 15 loaded cai-s, 20 bushels in 

 each car, 300 bushels in all. The capacity of tliis particular caimcry 

 is 1,500 bushels ]>cr day. 



The cars of oysters are run into rectangular iron steamei-s, which 

 are often hmg enough to accommodate 3 cai"s at once. wSteam is 

 passed through for from 3 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness 

 of the shells. The cai-s are tlicn ]Mish(>d on out the other end of the 

 steamer, sometimes being afterwards switclied to another track or 

 another room by the aid of the device shown in Plate XXV, figure 

 1 . The short piece of track upon which the car rests is also provided 

 with wheels, and the whole is rolled onto a lower track running at 

 right angles to the first. 



The steamed oysters are then opened directly from the cars by 

 shuckers or openers standing alongside (PI. XXA^, fig. 2), Each 

 worker has a metal bucket, which is suspended by a hook to the 

 side of the car. The buckets are perforated to allow the escape of ex- 

 cess liquor. A knife is used, but no such skill or strength is re(juired 

 as is necessary in the case of raw oystere, since the steamed oysters 

 have been killed by the process and the shells are gaping and easily 

 separated. When a worker's bucket is filled, it is taken to the weigh- 

 ing window, payment being by weight, where either the money or a 

 ticket is received. Both men and women, and often children over 

 the legal age, do this work. In Alabama anil iXfississippi the work- 

 ei-s are largely of the Slavic races. In those States many of the 

 canning firms furnish quarters for their labor, often wood and water 

 being included. 



After being weighed, the oysters are washed two or three times 

 with tap water in vats or on tables and then carried in buckets to the 

 packing table (PI. XXVI, fig. 1 ). The general construction of such 

 a table is shown in the figure; it is made of wood, of convenient height, 

 and about 1 2 feet lon^ by G wide in the wider part and 3 in the nar- 

 rower. The packing is usually done by women or girls, who stand 

 along the sides of the table. The empty cans are siipi)lied the packers 

 from boxes behind them, or often a supply is placed along tlie edge 

 of the table on which the oysters are piled. The packers at the farther 

 end (see figure) of the table fill the cans almost full, placing the 

 oysters in with the hands. They then put the cans in the rack or 

 trough extending along over the table. The bottom of this is an 

 endless belt which moves the cans forward until they are stopped 

 by the crossbar at the nearer end of the trough. One packer stands 

 on each side of the table, which is naiTower h(^re, takes the partially 

 filled cans from the trough, one at a time, places them on the balances 



