220 FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. [36] 



two, three, and four men are sufficient on board the smaller dredgers, 

 while the larger carry ten and twelve. The average sized "pungy" in 

 the Chesapeake has a crew of seven or eight, and the majority of the 

 "tonging" canoes employ one man and a boy. 



In the Chesapeake each haul of the dredge is "culled", that is, the oys- 

 ters are separated from the shells and refuse, as soon as the dredge is on 

 deck, and everything except the oysters is immediately thrown over- 

 board. In Long Island Sound, however, and on all private beds, the cull- 

 ing does not take place until the end of the day, when all shells, or other 

 matters suitable for "stools" or "cultch," are put on the shell-heaps on 

 shore for subsequent use, and no refuse matter is thrown back on the 

 beds. In each locality the policy is unchanged when the fishing is con- 

 ducted by means of the tongs, and the difference illustrates the degree 

 of care exercised on private and public beds. 



The fishermen, as a rule, are of the lower class and generally very 

 ignorant. The masters of the larger vessels employed in the Delaware 

 and Chesapeake are more intelligent, and the oysterman of the North- 

 ern and Eastern States is superior in circumstances and education to 

 those of the Southern States. The "tongers" in both sections are bet- 

 ter to do in the world, generally owning their boats or canoes and work- 

 ing for their own profit, than the men engaged on the larger dredging 

 vessels who are not above the ordinary day-laborer in condition. 



The packing trade is common to the whole seaboard, but the steaming 

 and canning industries are confined mainly to localities south of the Dela- 

 ware. A general description of each will give a sufficiently exact idea 

 of the methods employed, there being but little local variation. 



While a great many oysters are transported in the shell to markets 

 distant from the seaboard, the largest part of the inland consumption 

 is of "opened" or "shucked" oysters, and nearly every oyster dealer 

 along the coast employs a larger or smaller number of persons to open 

 the oysters and pack and ship the meats. Some of these establish- 

 ments are small, having as few as half a dozen people engaged ; others 

 are large buildings or sheds, and employ hundreds of " shuckers." At 

 some points — for instance, Fair Haven, Conn., and Crisfield, Md. — the 

 shores of the rivers are lined with long whitewashed sheds extending 

 back from the wharves; and it is within these sheds that the "shuck- 

 ing" takes place. 



The usual arrangement is as follows : The building is divided off in 

 long alleys ; on each side of each alley are numerous stalls, each fitted 

 with a " shucking trough," or box-like receptacle for the oysters in the 

 shell. In the trough are two buckets, one to contain the oysters of or- 

 dinary size, the other the large "extras;" a block of wood with a flat 

 piece of iron set in it, with its edge up, on which to break the bills of the 

 oyster; a hammer for the same purpose, and an oyster knife. A work- 

 man or woman is supplied to each stall and stands in front of, and fac- 

 ing it, the feet and legs being protected and kept clear of the increas- 



