COMMERCIAL CANNING OF FOODS. 71 



epices, jellies, etc.; (4) cooked with vegetables, etc.; and (5) preserved by some other 

 process, but placed in cans for convenience in marketing. 



The fii-st class includes salmon, mackerel, herring, menhaden, cod, halibut, smelt, 

 oysters, clams, lobstei-s, crabs, shrimp, gi'een turtle, etc.; sardines almost exclusively 

 make up the second class. 



The third class includes various forms of herring prepai-ed as "brook trout," "ocean 

 trout," etc., mackerel, eels, sturgeon, oysters, lobsters, crabs, etc. 



The foui-th class includes fish chowder, clam chowder, codfish balls, gi-een turtle 

 stew, terrapin stew, and deviled crabs. 



The fifth class is made up of smoked herring, halibut, haddock, carp, pickerel, lake 

 trout, salmon, eels, sturgeon, etc., and brine salted mackerel, cod, and caviar. 



Crabs (Callinectes hasta). 



Canned crab meat in this country'' was the result of experiments made by James 

 McMenamin, of Norfolk, Ya. He began at Norfolk in 1878, but moved to Hampton 

 in 1879, and that has been the cliief point of supply up to the present time. The 

 season for catching crabs is from April to October. 



The live crabs are placed in large crates, well washed, and then run into a steam 

 box, where they are cooked for 25 minutes. After cooling they are "stripped" — 

 that is, the shell, viscera, and smaller claws are removed. The meat is then picked 

 out of the bodies and large claws by hand, or it may be removed by centrifugal force 

 or by compressed air. The latter methods, which are of recent origin, are effective 

 and save much labor. In the centiifugal method the shell and claw are cut across 

 to expose the tissue and a quantity so prepared is placed in a centrifugal drum almost 

 the same as that used for diying in a laundry. The di-um is made to spin at a high 

 speed and all the meat is extracted. The compressed-air method consists of an air 

 compressor and a storage tank, ^vith pipes leading to a nozzle. The shell is held in 

 front of the nozzle, the air is turned on, and the meat blown out. Either method is 

 faster, better, and cleaner than the hand picking. 



The meat is filled into cans and processed. The No. 1 cans generally used are first 

 heated for a half hour in boiling water, vented, and then processed for one hour at 

 240° F. 



Crab meat is not so easy to keep as some other kinds, the tendency being to blacken 

 more or less in the cans. 



Oysters (Ostrea virginiana). 



The oyBter is a marine bivalve of the genus Ostrea, the species used in this country 

 being Ostrea virrjiniana. It is found along the coast, chiefly in the shallow waters at 

 the mouths of rivers and in bays. Chesapeake Bay lias long been noted for the abun- 

 dance of its oysters. They are found naturally all along the Atlantic coast as far 

 north as Ma.s«achusetts, and at one time were abundant in Long Island Sound. Active 

 dredging depleted the beds and now the supply is maintained only by cultivation 

 and the restriction of dredging operations. Some oysters are canned on the coast of 

 Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, but they are no longer canned north of Maryland. 

 The oyster o<^,TurH in the Gulf on the west coast of Florida and all along the sliore 

 to Texas. There is a large businesH in canning oysters in Mississippi and LouiHiana. 

 A few oysters are found on the Pacific coast, but not in sufficient quantity to warrant 

 canning. The abundance of oysters in Chesapoako Bay made canning operatioiiH 

 most profiUble there, and the output acquired a reputation whicli still gives it some 

 preference in the market. Prior to IfiOO probably 95 per cent of the canned oysters 

 were put up in P>altimorc or in the immediate vicinity. The southern or Gulf oyster, 

 however, has been proved to bo ecpially good for canning purposes and the industry 

 ha« rajndly assumed largo proportions in those localities. 

 The oyster grows naturally on the hard reefs in from 15 to 180 foot of water, depcind- 

 11,' upon the temp'Tatiirr-. In the Gulf they grow in shallower water. They will 

 iiiMogrow in the bayous and {\a,\n by transplant ing and fiiriiiHJiiiig shcIlH or hard olijccts 



