424 KEPOET OF THE COMMISSIONEK OF FISHEKIES. 



Before the use of ice we put about 5 dozen crabs in a box. After the introduction 

 of i'ce we put in about 12 dozen, as we then used a larger box. Crabs were 'shipped 

 in these large boxes for many years until the present style of box came into use in 

 1884. The latter were first used by Mr. Isaac Tawes, of the firm of Tawes & Co. In 

 the boxes originally used the crabs were arranged in layers, but not in trays, so that 

 if you desired to get at the bottom layer of crabs it was necessary to unpack all of 

 those above. You could not get at them by removing the trays, as at present. 



We did not ship any crabs to Baltimore for two or three years, but confined our 

 shipments to Philadelphia and New York. One shipment was sent to Pittsburg in 

 the interim, but no returns were received for them, as they did not appear to be 

 salable there. 



Scoop nets were probably used in taking crabs four or five years before the intro- 

 duction of scrapes. L. Cooper Dize was the first man to use scrapes. The kind first 

 used were nothing but old oyster dredges of the smallest size. A cotton bag was 

 soon afterwards substituted for the chain bag, this change making them much lighter 

 and better. Scrapes came into general use the next year after their introduction. 



I was about the first crabber, and also the first to buy and ship. The principal 

 reason why I stopped buying was on account of having to work on Sundays, which 

 is the busiest day of the entire week. 



The shedding of crabs was begun here almost immediately after the first ship- 

 ments. The same style of floats was used as now. In our first attempt at shedding 

 we built about five floats, each 10 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 8 inches deep. We 

 caught a lot of small hard crabs and put them in the floats to turn to peelers. Dur- 

 ing that night a strong wind from the northwest arose and when we went to the 

 floats in the morning we found that every one of the little crabs had shed its "fing- 

 ers," and we called them "buffaloes." They were of no use whatever. 



Other attempts have also been made to shed hard crabs, but they have always 

 resulted in a failure. We built a pound and put the crabs inside. Our intention was 

 to hold the crabs in this pound until they became peelers and then take them out and 

 put them in floats to shed, but it necessitated so many handlings of the crabs before 

 they became peelers that the experiment was considered a failure and discontinued. 

 The first crab pounds were constructed by Mr. Severn Riggin and myself. They 

 consisted of posts with boards nailed lengthwise on them, and laths nailed vertically 

 on the boards, close enough together to keep the crabs from getting through. The 

 first pounds were circular in shape, while those at present in use are square or nearly 

 so, and are not so closely built, as their only purpose now is to prevent the floats 

 being washed away by strong winds. 



THE HARD-CRAB INDUSTRY. 



Oxford and Cambridge are the most important hard-crab centers in 

 the state, though the industry is prosecuted extensively in many other 

 localities, including Crisfield, where, however, it is overshadowed by 

 the more important soft-crab industry. At Oxford, with the excep- 

 tion of about one-third of the catch shipped alive during July and 

 August, when the crabs are in their best condition, the hard-crab 

 catch is utilized at factories, where the meat is extracted and shipped 

 in tin buckets. This applies also to several other localities in Talbot 

 Count}^, which is the hard-crab county of the state. At Cambridge, 

 with the exception of the crabs used by one firm which extracts the 

 meat, the catch is shipped alive. 



