KING CRAB FISHERIES IN DELAWARE BAY. 115 



posts where usually made have had by far toO' small a quantity of 

 absorbent material added, as is evident from the escape of the 

 g-ases from the heaps, as well as from the results of experience in 

 making composts in other localities. The crabs, when alive, 

 weigh 3 to 4 pounds, and when thoroughly dried they average 

 nearly if not quite a pound each. To save all the gases which 

 will escape from them in the course of their decay, not less than 

 five times their weight of muck, sods, loam, or other absorbent 

 material should be used, and a much larger quantity would not 

 be injurious. Some have ground them for use as a concentrated 

 manure, and a mill was erected at Goshen for that purpose. The 

 crabs were dried, ground as fine as possible, and mixed with a 

 small quantity of deodorizing material. This material, thus pre- 

 pared and put up in bags sold under the name of cancerine. Its 

 price was $25 to $30 a ton at the works. 



Professor Cook's remarks hold good in the main even at the 

 present time, so- far as I have been able tO' investigate. The crabs 

 certainly appear in great numbers now. Most persons think they 

 are not sO' abundant as formerly, though in the case of last season 

 they were a little late, owing to the protracted cold weather, still 

 they were more abundant than during the past fifteen years at 

 least. They were present, however, in unusual abundance, and 

 some of the largest catches were recorded. They appear, how- 

 ever, to be decreasing year by year. The introduction of pound- 

 nets into the region about 1870 may have had some influence on 

 their abundance, which appears to be somewhat erratic. They 

 do' not always appear in Cape May waters in the same quantities, 

 and it is said that when they are scarce there they are usually 

 correspondingly numerous on the Delaware shores. For this 

 reason, in one case, a factory was moved across the bay with 

 success. They apparently do not leave the bay, as they are 

 dredged up at other times of the year by the oyster-dredgers. 

 Although young and adult king crabs are numerous, those of 

 intermediate size seem to^ be very scarce, and seldom one is taken. 

 When ready tO' spawn the king crab moves in towards shore, 

 always on the flood tide, and especially if there is an unusually 

 high tide at the time of full moon. Some writers think it very 

 likely that the same individuals may deposit eggs more than once 



