46 THE OYSTER AND THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 



become accustomed to their use m smaller places and find it less 

 tiring to work while standing in such a stall. 



Shuckers are paid by the gallon; during the winter of 1919-20 

 the price was $0.35 to $0.40 per gallon. Some large firms in New 

 England employ Portuguese for shucking; in places farther south 

 many Negroes are used for this work. Both men and women are 

 often employed; especially is this true where colored labor is used. 



After being shucked the oysters are spread out on washing tables. 

 These are usually comparatively simple in form, as seen in Plate XXII, 

 figure 2, are made of galvanized iron, and measure about 5 feet long 

 by 2^2 wide, the bottom being perforated to allow the water to drain off 

 and supported on a wooden framework, as sho\^Ti in the figure. Some 

 of the larger firms use more or less elaborate washing tables, some being 

 of the ''riffle" style (PI. XXIII, fig. 1). This consists essentially of a 

 slopmg zinc platform with ridges or elevations across it which retard 

 the oysters as they are washed down it. The oysters receive several 

 wasliings, usually m fresh water from the tap. In some States, 

 however, the law requires that the washing be done with salt water of a 

 certain strength in order that the oj^sters may not be bloated by the 

 absorption of fresh water. In the larger houses, after receiving a 

 preliminary washing on tables similar to that in Plate XXIII, figure 1, 

 they are carried by a gentle stream of water down narrow runways 

 to tanks on a lower floor (PL XXIV, fig. 1) . These are made of galvan- 

 ized iron and are about 5 feet square by 15 inches deep. Here they 

 receive two washings, in some cases compressed air being blown 

 from pipes through the water in which the oysters are standing. 

 This is thought by those using it to remove more thoroughly the fuie 

 particles of dirt or bits of shell. The excess water is allowed to drain 

 off in the last tank, and the oysters are then packed in various sorts of 

 containers, as the tin cans in the figure, which are theji packed in ice. 



Usually the oysters are divided, according to size, into three 

 grades: Standards, the smallest; Selects, the next; and Counts, 

 or Extra Selects, the largest. The usual containers are tin cajis, as 

 shown in Plate XXIII, figure 2, of a capacity of 1, 3, or 5 gallons. 

 The oysters are packed into these without any other liquor than that 

 remaming after the excess has been drained off, as stated above. 

 The cover is put on, often secured by a string i)assed over the top and 

 attached to lugs on each side. The cans are packed in ice singly in 

 boxes (PI. XXIV, fig. 2), or several together in a barrel. Sometimes 

 metal containers, shown at right in Plate XXIII, figure 2, are used. 

 These are packed in a bucket carrier with ice about them. The 

 figure also shows the 5-gallon size tin can, the bucket carrier, the 

 short boxes containing tin cans, and a bottle container with paste- 

 board cap, holding one-tenth gallon. Thirty bottles are packed in a 

 flat, wide box (see figure), with ice over their tops, and a wooden 

 cover is nailed on. 



CANNING OYSTERS. 



Oysters were first canned at Baltimore in 1820, and the expression 

 "cove oyster," which now seems synonymous with canned oysters, 

 was originally given to the small oysters found in the coves on the 

 west bank of Chesapeake Bay between Baltimore and the mouth of 

 the Potomac.'* The industry has spread rapidly in the last 20 years. 



a Smith, H. M. Oysters: The World's Most Valuable Water Crop. National Geographic Magazine, 

 March, 1913, p. 258. Washington. 



