Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-07-15
HABITS OF THE CRAB.
The TOothsOmo Shell-Fish in Its Varl0ua
 stages of Development.

The TOothsOme Shell-Fish in It's Various
 stages of Development.
 Crisdeld, Md, 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 it is always thrown back into the bay; that keeps up the propagation, and hence the supply is always adequate to the de- mand. It 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 market in winter are always hard-shells, and, in fact, they would be if they were brought ] from the tropics. They are dredged or raked out of the mud in the Chesapeake | and it's estuaries, and thousands of 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 right into the business of shedding. Really, it seems as if the crab had little else to do in summer but shed his shell and get a new one of larger caliber. The hard crab first puts on @ leathery undergarment, and while it is growing 1 he is known as a ''comer." In day or two, when his under skin is completed, } he is a shredder" and then he is fitted I for bait, because his hard shell can then be stripped of, leaving the leathery in. | teGument entire.
 In this condition he is more valuable than a 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 the shredder" parts his shell and becomes a "buster." Taken then he is the best of bait, but left in the water few hours he will throw of his shell, crawl out | of 1t entire, and commence to swell and stretch out his elastic covering. Then l he is a soft crab par excellence.
 On the night of the day the crab di- vests himself of his misft shell 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 l parchment, and in twelve hours more 1 the parchment hardens so that it just | yields to pressure. Then he is known as '.buckler," and is of little use ex- | cept as 8 broiler.
 The crab fishing business is put down ct $500, 900 per year by the Fish Com mission, and probably the estimate is by no means complete, as it is difficult to 1 obtain accurate information from the men engaged in any kind of fishing.
 In Virginia and Maryland there gre 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 Il 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, $2 or $2. 25 per dozen is not regarded ss an exces- siVe price, but in the height of the sea- son the ruling price is $1 for large crabs, and 75 cents for medium and small. Sneakers seldom go below 75 cents a dozen, and are more frequently valued at S1.60, and sometimes command SS per \ dezen.
 Taking a crab out of water arrests the process of development, and packed in sea-weed in cool place the shredder or soft crab will remain alive for several weeks without undergoing any change. --PittsbNrgh Dispatch.