The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1890-06-28
HABITS oE The CRAB.
Tho Toothsome Shol1-Fish in It's Various
Stages of Development.

Tho Toothsomo ShoH-tish IN lts various
stages of Development.
Crisfleld, Nd, supplies most Of the
crabs all the year round for the markets
of the leading cities of this country.
The crabs are caught in the Chesapeake
Bay and are packed in crates and bar
rels for shipment Over half the inhab-
itants of the town make their living out
Of grabbing. Whenever female crab
is scooped up in the crabber's net 1t is
always thrown back into the bay; that
keeps up the propagation, and hence the
supply Is always adequate to the de-
mand. 1t also accounts for the luscious
quality of the huge blue crab caught in
these waters.
The crabs are caught during every
month in the year and in all stages OF
development. Millions of crabs are
shipped north on the East Shore rail-
road every year and the Maryland soft
crabs meet Jersey soft crabs in the New
York markets on equal footing in spite
of the difference in the distance they
are carried. The crabs in morket In
winter are always hard-shells, ana, III
fact, they would be if they were brought
from the tropics They are dredged or
ralsed out of the mud in the Chesapeake
and its estuaries, and thousands oil them
are caught by oystermen.
The crabs are dormant from fall until
spring, even in the Gulf of Mexico,
where they are more abundant than
anywhere else on this country's coast.
In the spring, when they come out of
the mud and masses of seaweed, they go
-. +lo of oh
Really, it seems as if the crab had little
else to do in summer but shed his shell
and get o new one Of larger caliber.
The hard crab first puts on leathery
undergarment and while 1t is growing
he is known as conner" In day or
two, when his under skin is completed,
he is "shedder," and then he is fitted
for bait, because his hard shell can then
be stripped off, leaving the leathery in
| tegument entire.
| In this condition he is more valuable
than soft crab, owing to the constant
demand for bait and the fact that the
| ''shedders" are less frequently caught
than soft crabs. In a single day tho
"shedder'' parts his shell and becomes
cluster" Taken then he is the best of
he will throw off his she'll, crawl out
of it entire, and commence to swell and
stretch out his elastic covering. Then
| he is soft crab par excellence.
On the night of the day the crab di-
| vests himself of his misft she'll he is in
the best condition for frying. In an
other day, if he is not taken from the
water, his new covering becomes like
| parchment, and in twelve hours more
| the parchment hardens so that 1t just
| yields to pressure. Then he is known
as ''buckler," and is of little use ex-
| cept as broiler.
The crab fishing business is put down
at $500, 900 per year by the Fish Com
mission, and probably the estimate is by
no means complete, as it is difficult to
obtain accurate information from the
men engaged in any kind of fishing.
In Virginia and Maryland there are
several big canning factories putting up
crab meat for inland cities, and the
| business is carried on extensively. The
crabs are caught in summer by batting
set lines with tripe or fish, and the
catch per man will average sixty dozen
| per day.
All the soft crabs taken during the
summer are sent to market, and in May
and early June the only soft crabs to be
found in New York come from Maryland,
Virginia and North Carolina. In the lat
ter part of June soft crabs begin to be
caught in Jersey waters, and the price
then declines.
When soft crabs are scarce, SO or S2.25
per dozen is not regarded as an exces-
! sive price, but in the height of the sea-
son the ruling price is 81 for large crabs,
! and 75 cents for medium and small.
Shedders seldom go below rs cents a
dozen, and are more frequently valued
at 81. so, and sometimes command S3 per
| deZen.
Taking a crab out of water arrests
the process of development, and packed
in sea-weed in cool place the shedder
or soft crab will remain alive for several
weeks without undergoing any change.