PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
353 
with the live stock. Along the keelson was laid a pipe through which water forced in from the how. 
This pipe was furnished with a valve so that the water could be shut off and let in according to wish. 
From this main supply pipe smaller perforated pipes were laid around the bottom of each compart- 
ment. The idea of this system was to obtain a strong current of water upwards, which it was thought 
would keep tlie lobsters from crowding together on top of each other and smotheriug. I was informed 
that tliis system worked well enough in a cold season, but noticed myself that it was condemned in 
the summer mouths, and that the lobsters were packed in boxes with ice and shii)ped away to the 
States in this way in the same steamer. The difficulties in keeping the lobsters from crowding 
together and smothering, and in keeping the water cold in a vessel while crossing the Atlantic, I think 
could easily be overcome, and I even think it would be sufficient to bring the temperature of the water- 
down while crossing the Gulf Stream in tlie summer months. 
My plan would be to divide the hold of the vessel into compartments and have each compartment 
again floored over with boards 3 to 4 inches apart through its whole height. These boards could be 
put down and fastened according as the vessel was loaded, and taken up according as it was dis- 
charged. In this way the difficulty of keeping the lobsters from crowding on top of each other would 
be overcome. The height of water in the compartments could be regulated according to wish while 
loading or discharging. By means of refrigerators the temperature of the water could be brought 
down at a little expense whenever it was found too high. In this way I am of opinion that lobsters 
could be kept alive in good condition for a considerable length of time. Steamers would be prefer- 
able to sailing vessels. The collection of lobsters could easily be arranged by having fixed stations 
in a bay, at which the vessels could call and take in their cargoes, and I am sure there would not 
be much trouble, nor would it take a long time to secure full loads when everything was well 
arranged. * * » With the great demand and high prices paid for lobsters alive in England and 
on the Continent, there is the best reason to anticipate that a large and profitable business could be 
done in carrying these crustaceans across the Atlantic alive. When it can pay English people to send 
their vessels up to the western coast of Norway, where the lobsters are far from plentiful and where 
only a limited quantity can be secured, and purchase there at a high figure and carry them alive to 
England every year, it is reasonable to presume that it would pay very much better to ship them from 
Newfoundland, where they can be secured in much larger quantities and at a very small cost, if the 
difficulty in bringing them across the Atlantic alive can be overcome. (Report of Newfoundland 
Fisheries Commission for 1890, pp. 54-56.) 
While lobsters are generally shipped alive, yet some are first boiled and then 
cooled and placed in barrels or boxes, and if the weather be warm some ice is added. 
Boiling before shipment is applied to about one-eighth of the lobsters haudletl on the 
United States coast. They are boiled in salt water in a covered box, to which steam 
is admitted for 20 or 30 minutes, the temperature being about 250° F. On removal 
they are carefully folded and placed in piles like cord wmod for cooling, when they are 
packed in a manner similar to live lobsters. Tliey will keep a week or longer when 
well iced. Only live lobsters are boiled, for after death the muscles so relax that the 
fibers become short and the meat crumbles, not having sufiicieut tenacity to hold 
together, and the tail bends readily upon slight pressure. Lobsters that die ' before 
being cooked are so much loss, since they are not then suitable for food markets. 
SHIPPING LIVE OYSTERS AND CLAMS. 
While the great bulk of oysters and clams produced in this country are opened 
before being marketed, yet there is an extensive trade in these mollusks in the shell, 
not only at markets near the source of supply, but at points quite inland, and even in 
foreign countries. When out of their native element, oysters and clams will ordinarily 
live only a few days, and in order to retain them alive during shipment and in storage 
prior to consumption it is necessary to keep them cool and to prevent the loss of liquor 
from the shell. With care they may be retained in this manner for months. Half a 
century ago it was customary with many families in Connecticut and New York to lay 
F. C. B., 1898—23 
