THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 45 



SPIUCKED, ON ICE. 



The process of opening an oyster and removing the "meat" is known 

 generally as "shucking." For this purpose the oysters are conveyed 

 to tables or stalls of various sorts in the oyster house. In the smaller 

 establishments this is done by wheelbarrow and shovel; in the 

 larger, the oysters are first taken to a storage room, as described 

 above, and then let down through chutes to the individual stalls 

 of the slmckers. Plate XXII, figure 1, represents a shucking table 

 in one of the large oyster houses. The shucker stands on the bench 

 before the table. The oysters fall down the slanting chute to the 

 narrow table along the edge of which are seen the blocks on which 

 the shucker places the oyster to open it. The sheUs are thrown 

 through small chutes in the table and fall into the trough seen below, 

 whence tliey are removed by a mechanical carrier. 



The process of shuckmg requires considerable skill and strength 

 of hand and wrist. Various methods are employed and several slightly 

 differing styles of opening knives. Some shuckers first break off the 

 "bill" or tip of the shell with a small hammer, insert the knife into 

 the opening thus made, and cut the large muscle holding the shell 

 together. Others scorn such aid, since it takes longer, and by steady 

 pressure force the knife between the shells at the tips or the side. 

 A skilled shucker moves his hands so rapidly the eye can hardly 

 follow the movements. A heavy mitten is worn on the left hand, 

 which grasps the oyster, the shell being very sharp on the edges. 

 A fair day's shucking is 10 to 12 gallons." If the oysters are in good 

 condition, "fat," 12 gallons or a little more may be shucked. The 

 average yield of shucked oysters from a bushel in the shell varies 

 greatly witli the condition and equality of the oysters. If the oyster 

 meats are full and plump, they are spoken of as "fat" and the yield 

 is greater than when "poor"; that is, the meat thin, watery, ofteri. 

 semitransparent. A fair average yield is from 6 to 8 pmts per 

 bushel. 



The "meats" are thrown into a galvanized-iron measure, which in 

 some cases is perforated to allow the drainage of excess liquor. In 

 some houses, however, the measures are not perforated and are 

 partially filled with water into which the oysters are placed as 

 shucked. When the measure is full it is taken to the measuring 

 window and the oysters measured or weighed. The shucker some- 

 times receives a ticket, but in many cases the individual scores are 

 marked up on a board by the weighing window and payment made 

 weekly. In the smaller oyster houses the shells are thrown by the 

 slmcker to the floor and later removed in wheelbarrows. In many 

 such houses each shucker stands in a sort of movable wooden stall 

 placed before the table. This stall is 18 or 20 inches wide and about 

 waist-high, bemg open at the rear so that the shucker may step in 

 and out readily. Such stalls keep the accumulating piles of shells 

 from encroaching on the space where the worker stands and also 

 afford something against which he may lean while working. In 

 some of the larger houses, where the shells are not throwm on the 

 floor, the stalls are used merely to satisfy the shuckers who have 



« Many, however, shuck more than this amount. The author knows of one man in particular, at Hamp- 

 ton, Va., who opened 26 gallons a day. Since his score was marked up and pay given for this amount, 

 this record is authentic. 



