684 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



The boilers at the Boston establishments which we have examined are rectangular wooden 

 tanks or vats of about 60 gallons capacity, lined with zinc and furnished with a cover. Heat is 

 applied by the introduction of steam through a series of perforated pipes arranged in the bottom 

 of the tank. The steam is generated in an ordinary boiler standing close at hand. The lobsters 

 are not thrown directly into the vat, as the operation of removing them after cooking would iu 

 such an event be an exceedingly tedious one; but an iron framework basket of rather slender bars 

 is made to fit the tank loosely, and is lowered and raised by means of a small derrick placed over 

 the tank. This frame, which holds about 300 pounds, is filled with lobsters at the edge of the 

 wharf from the floating cars, and is then carried to the tank and lowered into it, after the water it 

 contains has reached the desired temperature, that of boiling. The water is first supplied to the 

 tank, which is filled to about one-half or two-thirds its capacity ; about a peck of salt is added, and 

 then the steam is turned on. The same water sutBces for several successive boilings, about two 

 quarts of salt being added each time. The lobsters are allowed to remain in about half an hour, 

 or until the proper red color indicates they are sufficiently cooked. With as little delay as possible 

 after cooking, they are packed in barrels or boxes for shipment or are sold to the local retail 

 markets. The barrels are usually covered with tea matting or sacking. 



MANNER OF SELLING LOBSTERS. Lobsters are sold both by weight and count, the latter 

 method being probably the more common one among the fishermen, who generally have no means 

 of weighing their catch. In some places they are also disposed of by the barrel. The canneries on 

 the coast of Maine usually purchase of the fishermen by weight, though in some instances, as at 

 South flarpswell, where the lobsters offered them average closely upon 1 pound each, they buy 

 by weight or count, indifferently. The smacks that visit the fishing-grounds and buy directly from 

 the fishermen purchase almost universally by count, taking only those above a certain size which 

 are salable in the fresh markets. Lobsters shipped iu barrels are generally sold by weight. 



In the fresh markets, wholesale and retail, both methods of selling are recognized, one method 

 prevailing iu some places and the other elsewhere, this matter having apparently been regulated 

 by long custom in each place. In the eastern part of the lobster region, however, the prevalent 

 custom is by count, while to the westward it is by the pound. In the larger markets of Portland, 

 Gloucester, and Boston, sales are mostly made according to the former method, and in those of 

 New Bedford, Newport. New London, New Haven, and New York, by the latter. When selling 

 by count iu the retail markets the price is regulated by the size of the lobsters. 



C. THE METHODS OF SHIPPING; PRICES. 



THE SMACKS. The well smacks used as lobster carriers are, for the most part, remnants of 

 the former large fleet of fishermen which, before the custom of icing fish came into common 

 practice, were obliged to carry their fish alive to market, and many of them are quite old. These 

 vessels have been fully described elsewhere iu the fishery report, and we need, therefore, only refer 

 briefly to their connection with the lobster trade. 



Prior to I860, wh:.>n lobster canneries were less numerous than now, aud the greater part of 

 all the lobsters caught on the coast of Maine were carried fresh to western markets, the well 

 smacks were of much greater importance than at present, and many more were required to dispose 

 of the catch. Even now the larger share of the fresh lobsters carried to Boston and New York 

 from distant fishing-grounds are transported in well smacks, which are destined to remain for 

 some time an important factor in the lobster industry. 



Within a few years it has been demonstrated that lobsters can be carried long distances 

 alive, packed in barrels with ice, and at those fishing stations having direct communication 



