PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
415 
The brackish lake water suffices for cookiug, and it is used for several successive 
boilings, additional water and salt being added as necessary. Tlie shrimp are boiled 
for live or ten minutes, when the cover is removed and the slirimp stirred thoroughly 
with a paddle or other appliance. The cover is then replaced for 10 or 15 minutes 
longer, when the shrimp are removed with perforated skimmers or shovels and spread 
on the platform, where they are exposed to the action of the sun, being turned and 
separated at intervals during the day and covered, when necessary to protect them 
from moisture, until the drying is completed, this usually requiring two or three days. 
When shrimp are coming in plentifully the boiling is frequently kept up all night, the 
boiled shrimp being xilaced in heaps on the platform and covei’ed with canvas until 
morning. When thoroughly dry, the Chinamen, with clean shoes or moccasins, tread 
them for a time to detach the shells and heads from the main part of the tlesh. These 
shells and light panicles are fanned off by throwing the shrimp upward through the 
air, somewhat in the same style as that practiced with wheat, rice, and other similar 
grains. The meats of the shrimp are then placed in sacks, beaten and thoroughly 
shaken to complete the breaking up and removal of the shells, after which they are 
again winnowed or passed through hand sifters, so as to remove all dust and particles 
of shells adhering to them. They are next made ready for shipment by placing them 
in flour barrels, containing about 200 pounds each, and are sent to theA arious markets. 
In packing, the shrimp should be graded, the whole bright meats being kept separate 
from those broken or discolored on account of rains during the process of curing. 
Each basket of green shrimp yields about 9i pounds of dried shrimp, which sells 
for about 14 cents per ])Ound. The market is among Asiatic races almost exclusively. 
The great bulk is sent to San Francisco, but some are shipped to New York, Philadel- 
phia, Chicago, and Havana. From San Francisco the shrimp are sent to China, Japan, 
and throughout the west coast of the United States. The quantity dried during the 
past four or five years in Louisiana has been much less than previous to 1893, and the 
profits have greatly decreased, owing to competition with Mexican ports. 
The following summary shows the quantity prepared in Louisiana during each 
year since 1886 : 
Tear. 
Dried 
sliriinp. 
Year, 
Dried 
shrimp. 
1887 
Pounds. 
304,200 i 
319,000 , 
346, 400 ' 
293, 600 
280, 200 
285, 200 
1893 
Pounds. 
121,800 
83, 200 
116, 000 
144, 400 
151,400 
1894 
IflSQ 
1895 
1890 
1896 
1891 
1897 
1892 
The method of drying shrimp iiracticed by the Chinese at San Francisco is thus 
described by Mr. Eichard Kathbun : 
After the day’s fishing is over it is usually customary to carry the fresh shrimp to the Vallejo 
street market in San Francisco in live-baskets covered witli a netting, -which has a hole in the center 
closed by means of a puckering string. At the market the live shrimp .sell at the rate of about 10 cents 
per pound, and those remaining unsold are carried hack to the Chinese settlement and put at once into 
boiling brine. The kettle for boiling the shrimp is a rectangular iron tank G feet long by 4 feet wide and 
2 feet deep, -with a fireplace underneath. After sufficient boiling, care being taken to prevent over- 
cooking, the shrimp are taken out and spread to dry upon level plats of hard ground, which have been 
previously stripped of grass and rendered perfectly smooth. They are spread out and turned occasion- 
ally by means of a hoe-like broom. After four or five days, or wdien iierlectly dry, they are crushed under 
