New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-07-19
THE SOFTSHELL CRAB SUPPLY.
nrr1cATE AND PERIsHABLE CREATURES

DrrrcATE AND PERISHABLE CREATURES
THAT MIST BE HANDLED CAREFULLY.
.so>tsbeu crabs are usually plentiful In their
.osor " said Eugene @. Backford. OF Fulton Mar
ket 70 a Tribune reporter yesterday, ana tneli re-
cent scarcity here was only temporary Inns
scarcity was not because OF any lack Oh the" ~
the present sources Of supply. but simply because
saver. storm. had hampered the operations Oh 'i'e
fishermen Soft-shell crabs are brought mere if'ii
no,r.. oil along the coast from South Carohha 10
Massachusetts Their annual season EXTENDS iro'u
about May 20 to the middle OF September i"e' OF
caught entirely In nets at the mouths anu a'o"s
tho hanks Of creeks that empty INTO SAT- w''ei' -
large proportion of the supply comes from '"een
naake BAY and its contiguous waters Large num-
..rs ors now arriving from Crsfeld. which is an
extensive crabfshing centre on the eastern ooas'
of Maryland. While the crabs are pieh'h"' a' ,',e
sources of supply. they are so extremely psr's'a"'e
that many Of them die ana nave u 10 ~
before they can be marketed
"soft-shell crabs are all brought here by ex-
ross and II there happens to be n severe thunder
storm uhie they are on the way, nearly all or them
will die before reaching their destination haru
crabs shedder' crabs and soft-sheli crapS are one
and the Same thing The shedder crab Is the nara
crab when about to shed It's she'll, AT which uHe IL
&c extensively used bait in angling for seatooh
The crabs shed their shells from three 10 Tour
,,ros each I'm the course OF season. ana each
time they increase In size, so that at the ehh OF d
season they are much larger than at It's beginning
The crabs swell until they burst their hard shels
and when the shells are shed the crabs immeo-
atelv increase about one-third In size and so rap
,dlv that one can see the increase while II Is going
on After the process OF shedding the shehs sooh
become hard again.
when the soft-shell crabs are sent 10 ths mar
ket they are carefully packed on edge In wet sea
grass in crates containing twenty dozen craos
each In extremely hot weather 1t Is necessary 70
place ice In the crates. On their arrival mere .ey
have 10 be kept on ice or In iceboXes Even then
hovever they will not live longer than from threo
TO five days so that it is necessary to sell out al
most daily but the number thrown away every DAY
/ is almost incredible.
..rhe erst soft-shell crabs received here at the
opening OF ii season. only two or three Dozen now
ever are sold wealthy epicures Tor ABOUT ~
dozon Afterward prices steadily decline, and when
there is surplus they are sometimes as low as 70
or 30 cents a dozen. but the average price through
ont a season is about IS cents a dozen Al the De-
,,r,rg Of a season the crabs from South
Carolina After that they come from points fur
Their north TIL Massachusetts is reached toward the
end Of the season. About mid-season the supply
from New,Jersey and Long Island Is large When
soft shell crabs most plentiful from 100 to 1000
dozen are daily received IN ths fhat mar, ~ ~ . 4,
one Of the largest shippers OF sof-shell crabs IN
MARYLAND recently said: Although the town OF
Crsfeld contains only about 80 ,nnapan,s FUR
OF supply combined. The FORMAL daily shipments
three carloads, ana Wnen tnc season IL AZ
It's height there is a single shipper who sends out
several thousand dozens every day The shedher
crabs are caught thousands at a time in weighted
dragnets network scrapes; and placed In shall
floats In which they swell and free themselves
from their hard shells while lying dormant In the
surface water; Crabs are prolific and penti-
full but soft-shell are so delicate and sem
sitive atmospheric changes that II Is only by ex-
ercisng the utmost care that they can be properly
packed for successful shipment If properly packed
before shipment and properly cared Tor. ana not
DELAYED while in transit they may he safely sent
under favorable conditions OF weather as far as tho
Pacific Slope and TO Europe.