PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
525 
or two other canneries have been established since, the pidncipal one being at Biloxi, 
Miss. The present annual output in the United States is valued at about |45,()()0. 
The season for crab canning in the Chesapeake begins in April and continues 
until October, except that sometimes the work is discontinued during June and July 
on account of the large number of crabs with spawn, in which condition they are not 
suitable for canning. 
The crabs are placed in open slat-work cars, usually of a size sufficient for hold- 
ing about 250 dozen, and are rolled into a steam box, where they are cooked 20 or 30 
minutes, when they become red. The cars are then rolled out of the steam chest and 
the crabs passed to the “strippers,” who remove the outer shells, viscera, and small 
claws. The crabs next pass to the “pickers,” consisting principally of women and 
children, who remove the meat from the bodies and the claws, crushing the latter with 
the handle of the knife employed in the work. Ditferent operatives are employed for 
picking the bodies and the claws. The pickers generally receive from 2 to 3 cents per 
j)Ound for this work, and the most skilled among them prepare 40 or 50 pounds per day, 
but the average quantity is about one-half of this. 
After being weighed the meat is placed into cans of two sizes, 1 iiound and 2 
pounds, about 12 crabs being required to each 1-pouud can. The cans are sealed, 
boiled for half an hour, and then venteil. They are at once resealed and boiled for a 
second time (making the third time that the meat has been cooked) for about 2 hours. 
The length of the second boiling maybe shortened by increasing the possible tempera- 
ture of the water, which is itsually done by adding chloride of calcium thereto. 
When the cans have been proiierly cleaned and labeled, they are packed in cases 
holding 48 1-pound or 21 2-pound cans, and sold wholesale at about |8 and $8 per 
case, respectively. A package of shells usually goes with each case of cans, four 
shells being allowed for each 1-pound can.* 
It is stated that in 1891, 3,838 barrels of crabs, worth $8,141, were canned in 
Virginia, yielding 1,095 cases of l-y)Ound cans and 2,880 cases of 2-pound cans, worth 
$7,884 and $18,128, respectively. In 1890, 8,383 barrels, or 2,388,258 crabs, worth 
$5,090, were used, y)roducing 1,277 cases of 1 -pound cans and 5,472 2-pound cans, 
worth $9,194 and $30,643, respectively. In 1897 the output was 1,992 cases of 1 -pound 
cans and 3,898 cases of 2-pound cans, worth $14,177 and $22,084, respectively. 
When intended for nearby markets, and for consumption within 4 or 5 days, the 
crabs are not usually canned, but the meat, after being removed from the shell, as in 
case of canning, is placed in 10-gallon tins, a piece of ice placed in each tin to keep 
the llesh cool, and the tins placed in refrigerators. When orders arc received, the ice 
is removed and the meat repacked in tin or wooden buckets of suitable size, contain- 
ing gallon, 5 gallons, 8 gallons, and 10 gallons, and the buckets placed in a small 
barrel in much the same way that ice cream is packed for shi[)ment, ice being placed 
all about the can or bucket. Sometimes a small lump of ice is placed in the bucket, 
and some dealers also use an antiseptic, such as boracic acid. The crab meat is sold 
at $l to $1.50 per gallon, wholesale, and with each 10-gallon bucket half a bushel of 
empty sliells are sent without extra charge. This trade is carried on at Annapolis, 
Oristield, Hampton, Uorfolk, and other ports on the Chesapeake Bay. 
Fishery Industries of the United States, sec. v, vol. 2, pp. 646-647. 
