THE LOBSTER FISHERY. 689 



About 1847, Mitchell & Noble sold their Eastport cannery to George K. Underwood & Co., of 

 Boston, the contract stipulating that Mr. Mitchell should continue with the latter firm to superin- 

 tend their works. This establishment was soon afterwards removed to a more western point on 

 the coast of Maine. Mr. J. W. Jones began canning in 1856. 



Since the first attempts made in Eastport, the business of preparing hermetically sealed 

 goods has rapidly increased, and at the present time comprehends many kinds of fish, meats, 

 fruits, and vegetables. In 1850 there were only three canneries in the United States, but now the 

 number is very great, and they are scattered through all parts of the country. After the im 

 portance of the process of canning became known, several parties attempted to cover it with 

 patents, but without success, although much money was used for that purpose. 



In 1843 the 1 pound cans of lobsters sold at 5 cents each, and 3 pounds live weight were 

 required to make a 1-pound can. No lobsters under 2 pounds in weight were used. 



About 1870 the capitalists of the United States interested in the lobster canning industry 

 began to establish canneries on the coasts of the British Provinces. This movement was owing 

 partly to the fact that a scarcity of lobsters was noticeable on portions of the Maine coast, and 

 partly to the increased foreign demand for canned goods, which exceeded the production of the 

 older canneries. At present the United States capital invested in provincial canneries exceeds 

 that invested on the coast of Maine. 



Concerning the period from about 1850 to date, sufficient data have not been collected to 

 furnish a connected history of the progress of lobster canning. 



NUMBER AND LOCATION OF THE CANNERIES. In 1880 there were, as already stated, twenty- 

 three canneries on the coast of Maine, and over forty in the British Provinces controlled by United 

 States capital. The Maine canneries are as follows : In the Passamaquoddy district there are four 

 canneries, all located at Eastport, and in 1880 they were putting up nothing but lobsters, though two 

 or three engaged also in the fresh lobster trade. The total capital invested was $12,500. The 

 oldest of the existing canneries was established in 1870. Machias district also had four can- 

 neries, located at Jonesboro', Jonesport, Cape Split, and Millbridge, and with a cash capital 

 of $39,598. The Jonesport cannery engaged in the preparation of canned mackerel and clams in 

 the proper season, but the other canneries were limited entirely to lobsters. In Frenchman's Bay 

 district there were three canneries, one at Prospect Harbor, Gouldsboro'; one at Hammond's 

 Cove, South Gouldsboro' ; and one at South West Harbor, Mount Desert, with a capital of 

 $55,150. The first mentioned factory canned lobsters only ; the Hammond's Cove, lobsters and 

 clams ; and that at South West Harbor, lobsters, clams, mackerel, salmon, clam -chowder, and 

 fish-chowder. There were five canneries in Castine district one each in Brooklyn; Burnt Cove, 

 Deer Isle; Green's Landing, Deer Isle; Oceanville, Deer Isle; and Castine \vith a capital of 

 $61,400. All the canneries, excepting that at Brooklyn', put up mackerel, and those at Green's 

 Landing and Castine included clams also among their products. Belfast district had three can- 

 neries, located in Camden, North Haven, and Carver's Harbor, Vinal Haven, with a total capital 

 of $31,925. Mackerel as well as lobsters were put up at all these canneries. There is one cannery 

 in the Waldoboro' district, located at Port Clyde, South Saint George, where both lobsters and 

 mackerel are canned ; one at Booth Bay, in the Wiscasset district, canning lobsters, mackerel, and 

 clams; and one each at South Harpswell and South Freeport, in the Portland and Falmouth. 

 district. The South Harpswell cannery prepared only lobsters in 1880, and the South Freeport, 

 lobsters, clams, and mackerel. The combined capital of these four canneries was $36,661. The 

 entire cash capital invested in the canneries of Maine, in 1880, was $289,834, making an average 

 SEC. v, VOL. ii 44 



