CLXXIX 



where they are sold to wholesale dealers ; and there are also 

 several establishments on the coast of Maine where they 

 are put up in cans, which are hermitically sealed, for trans- 

 portation to foreign markets ; the fishery thus gives em- 

 ployment to a great number of persons. 



On the North Shore, including the coast of Maine, 

 during July, and until the next spring, the Lobsters are 

 less plentiful, and a large portion of them are "soft shelled" 

 and in poor condition for an article of food. 



Of the Lobsters taken on the North Shore, at all sea- 

 sons, more than three quarters are males, while those in 

 the vicinity of Cape Cod are nearly all females, at all 

 times when they are found in that region, such is the dis- 

 proportion of the sexes in different localities. 



In Boston the male Lobster is prefered, consequently 

 Lobsters from Cape Cod will not sell there until they be- 

 gin to catch less on the North Shore. In New York, on 

 the contrary, they prefer the female Lobsters and the sup- 

 ply for that city comes from Cape Cod, when the Lob- 

 sters can be caught there. 



The female Lobster is considered the best at Cape" Cod, 

 and usually they are in the best condition. Most of the 

 males are coarse and poor, and are nearly all thrown away 

 when they are caught. 



At Provincetown, Cape Cod, the Lobsters do not come 

 in to the shore until late in May or early in June, they are 

 then abundant until the last of September and are in excel- 

 lent condition, and are so plenty at times that one man 

 will catch from three to four hundred in a single day. 

 This is the time when they produce their young. They 

 do not deposit their eggs in a particular locality, like fishes, 

 where they will be exposed and liable to be destroyed be- 

 fore the young are hatched. When the Lobster lays her 

 eggs they adhere to the under part of the tail by a glutin- 

 ous substance, and remain there in safety during the term 

 of incubation, consequently countless millions are hatched 

 every season. 



Before the Bluefish came north of Cape Cod (1847), 

 Lobsters were very scarce in the waters about the Cape. 

 The reason of this was owing to the large number of small 

 fishes which remained along the coast during the summer 



