The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1878-12-11

ter that connects with the sea, in in
land yparts.of the Union they age
quite unknown, and would be deli
ueaey, aaasa very delicious one when
properly cooked. = Im South America
roasted shrirps are placed IN the corn
bens to keep weasels from tho. grain
In California the shrimp industry is
employing ri ldnBerQf people. Az
exchange sayshrsir FeLGo Taintop
The Chinese of California have de-
veloped| "a fuge apds to thep, Profit.
able industry lalong the shores of
San Francisco Bay, in the capture
and curing of the shrimp, with which
those waters swarm. Over five hum
dred Chinamehi are engaged inthls
work, distributed mainly along the
southern portion OF the bay, in camps
of from, twelve to forty men each'
Adco1didg to the San francisco Bull
eti,s, the business.at first hands han d. now now
amounts to $4,000 a month, and new
markets are constantly opening. At
certain periods the demand lis SO
great that two trips into the bay are
matte daily, which nearly doubles the
amount spf ordinary esPplyfand Ene
n6essitaues thesdlhbldysaSnt eE1a ldage
force of extra men. The most ser
ious disadvantages Of the trade is that
dr&iSE kss. div sess son, ltle EAfnE pre-.
sehAbs HI te9pJshte s& The gilrfmgs'
for drying purposes. This difficulty
5aia bfoJabiysbe ob1faded ss5tBe bis.
mess enlarges, by the driving and
crushingO 81 4tAne shrinp g III heated
rooms, instead Of the open air, during
sahe winter 80 avoid infringing, the
'Eay lstiahgdndf 3ila%slof 0atfor-
MIA, tho, nets are sunk from, twelve to
twenty 3AtKoms, 7or belcwt the level
usually traversed by the fish Of the
bay. Tie nets arc funnel shaped,
and about thirty-six feet in length.
The diameter at thsvmopth is eight
cen feet, but decreases by graduation
W, vr10 ..S~ys - -.
The mesh is usually half inch on
the square for a distance OF thirty
feet from the sorafee. hat is less than
a quarter of an inch in. width from
that point ITO the small end. The
time chosen for setting the nets is
when the tide is coming in, and they
are allowed to remain in the water
until after the ebb. They are then
lifted and conveyed to land. The
camps described possess thirty-six
boats, and five men compose crew.
Each boat contains from twelve to
fifteen nets, and twenty baskets of
| shrimps at a single catch is fair
average. These baskets will hold
about $50 pounds each. oe' ar
After landing,the shrimps are placed
in watts of boiling water, with fire
| underneath, and boiled for about half
an hour, being frequently sprinkled
with coarse salt. They are then
spread on hard dry ground, and left
to dry and bleach for three or four
days, being frequently turned. At
the expirationsot this time the shells,
spawn, and dirt are either detached OF
in such dry and crackey condition
as to be easily removed. A force of
Chinameh is then put to work tramp
ing the beds of dry shrimps with
heavy wooden shoes. The trampers
60 over and over the mass, sliding
their feet as does a negro dancer
when he is shutting over the stage.
The tramping process concluded, the
miscellaneous mixture is put into a
winnowing machine, where the shells
are separated from the meat as per-
fectlv as chaff is from grain. There