692 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



factory is about two or three, with an average crew of two men each. The crew sometimes 

 consists of one or two boys in addition to the captain, and occasionally there is but one smackman. 



The manner of employing the smacks or crews varies somewhat at the different canneries. In 

 some places the smacks are engaged for the season, at from $50 to $100 per month, in such cases 

 the captain hiring all his help. In others they are paid by weight for all the lobsters brought in, 

 at an average price of about 12 cents per cwt., or by count. Where the smacks are owned by the 

 canneries, the latter may hire the entire crew or only the captain, who looks out for his help; and 

 may pay regular wages, a certain price by weight or count, or a percentage on the lobsters carried. 

 The wages of the chief smackmen range from $25 to $75 a mouth. 



THE PRICES PAID FOR LOBSTERS. The prices paid the fishermen for canning lobsters, in 

 1880, ranged from 65 cents to $1.50 per hundred pounds, varying somewhat on different parts 

 of the coast and at different seasons, but averaging about $1. In some places the average was as 

 high as $1.15 per cwt., and in others, where the lobsters averaged nearly one pound eaeh, 

 they were bought indifferently by weight or count, provided the fisherman would sell in the same 

 way throughout the season, the price being $1 per cwt. or per one hundred lobsters. In a few 

 localities they were purchased entirely by count. 



THE QUANTITY OP LOBSTERS USED : NUMBER OF FISHERMEN. It is reckoned that, in 1880, 

 9,494,284 pounds of lobsters, valued at $94,943 to the fishermen, were used at the Maine canneries. 

 The number of fishermen supplying the canneries was not far from 1,200, but nearly, if not quite, 

 all of these were also interested in selling to the market smacks, and the latter trade yielded much 

 greater profits. 



THE METHOD OF PREPARATION AND DETAILS OF CANNING. 



THE PROCESS OF CANNING. At some of the canneries it is customary to keep the lobsters in 

 live-cars a day or more before canning, but at others they are used at once or as soon as a suffi- 

 cient quantity is on hand. They are first boiled in a large vat or kettle, from ten to twenty minutes, 

 after which they are heaped on large tables, usually with the backs up, care being taken to have 

 the bodies more or less straightened out. The boiling is frequently done in the afternoon, in order 

 that the lobsters may have sufficient time to cool during the night. Early the next morning the 

 men designated as "breakers" commence to break off the "tails" and claws from the bodies, 

 throwing the latter away, for the reason that, though the carapax contains some good meat, it is diffi- 

 cult to extract and clean it. The sweet-bread, however, when it is found, is taken from the bodies 

 and generally put in the tops of the cans. The claws are then split by the " crackers," using a 

 small hatchet or cleaver, which opens them so that the meat can be readily taken out. The meat is 

 now punched out from the tail by means of a small " thole" pin, or other suitable pointed imple- 

 ment, but formerly the tail was split in a similar manner to the claws. The picking of the meat 

 from the claws, the washing, and the filling of the cans is generally done by girls. The meat is 

 thoroughly washed in water, the cans filled and weighed to insure their containing the required 

 quantity, and then covered and cleaned, after which they go to the sealers, who solder the covers 

 down. The bathing comes next, and is the most difficult part of the process. The cans are put 

 into boiling water and kept there for about two hours, though the time appears to vary at differ 

 ent canneries from one hour to two and one-half hours. They are then taken out and vented, a 

 small hole being punched in the cover to release the air, after which they are sealed again and 

 bathed for two and one half to three hours longer. "Running the bath" is the term generally 

 applied to taking the lobsters from the first bath and venting. After the final bathing the 



