Crustacea. 



97 



value since the foundation of this new industry, good 

 marketable lobsters are used to manure the fields. 



The proprietor of a large establishment at Shippagaw 

 writes: "The heavy gale of August, 1873, drove more 

 lobsters ashore within five miles of my packing-houses than 

 I could make use of during the whole summer. They 

 formed a row of from one to five feet deep, and I should 

 estimate them at an average of 1000 to every two rods of 

 shore." 



Lobsters are taken in wicker baskets, called lobster-pots. 

 These are about three feet long and two feet wide, of a 

 semi-cylindrical form ; that is, the bottom flat, and the 

 sides and top in the form of an arch. At each end is an 

 opening for the ingress of the lobster ; around this opening 

 are placed short, flexible pieces of wood, projecting into 

 the basket, so arranged that they will easily separate and 

 allow the lobster to enter, but their points close together 

 after him and prevent his egress. They have a door upon 

 the top, through which the lobster is taken out. A long 

 line is attached to these pots ; a heavy stone, sufficient to 

 sink it, is placed inside. They are baited with the heads 

 or offal of fresh fish, and sunk to the bottom at about low- 

 water mark ; the other end of the line is made fast to a 

 block of light wood, called a buoy. The fishermen go out 

 with their wherries freighted with these pots, and drop 

 them at short intervals along the shore. During the season 

 of lobster fishing, which lasts from March to July in 

 America, hundreds of these buoys may be seen bobbing up 

 and down like so many seals' heads. The fishermen visit 

 them every morning, draw them up alongside of their 

 boats, take out the lobsters, replenish the bait, and drop 

 them again into the water. The lobsters, when first taken, 

 are very fierce, and seize with their strong pincers upon 



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