The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1912-11-14
Real Home Of
the Soft Shell,

'~t y he Erva.ss. -
kst In the world fc- so,, q, Ss'
Some hotels IN New Yea sas
supplies q The eeIgciog, -. -a"-
direct from there ase ,A.y a..
ahippet as far as sea,,la "Ha
Crtaeeld 10 In MA-yA-s f.
tie lower rart o, The ~As.e-~
II 10 not blk place. -; $50
out good things TO ca, r. sd
no, only tie soft abel e-.s -
dIauon6-back terrarsa. -.
oyster. which the Eourra~.s =
more think is TO be cla.ses -. =
most delicious OF the So. As
white shad. 60 which those - "
NETS hold that no shad i..e-,,
20 on. With which intrr.. -. al
ter L. r Carson
Mr.. Carson was at TIE l-,..,
Gently. says the New Yo-k G.
lives in Crisfeld. 10 in hcs,,.,, /"
and has made = study @. =, -
scientifically and commercial,
"Crisfeld." said Mr.. Cara.
duces so per cent OF all re g., =,
consumed in this country.
caught within a radius OF ,s, -
the town. The old par O, g.
was built on oyster shells ~, !,
cent years tho town has rrr.,..s
was only about twelve years AZ, -,
the discovery that the sof,.sA.o =.
could be populariB~d started -
ard the values OF property IA u. =
six years have trebled.
Evolution OF soft-shen cr,s
TN the waters about Deals T,.--
and Smiths islands the soft e-,A, -
caught in two ways. One Is e.
by the 'scrapers.' who drag ar -
ment like an oyster dredge IN -,
ter six TO twelve feet deem '-o-
bateau or canoe. The Other 80,
Is employed by the 'ne:te1 =.
stand In the bow OF a ski-. pys.,,
the boat slowly along in shaIlo, -
ter and making a swoop with : -.
when they see a crab on The ho.,,.
Ninety per cent OF the crabs -,
caught are hard-shelled. and thor
fut into floats and kept un;g n-
shed their shells.
The first stage OF a crab :, =
crossing from hard to sof, IL v.,.,
termed locally a 'snot.' The ,A,,s
from a snot TO softer requires .-r
-FOUR hours to four days. depestl,re
the condition Of the crab. II. S.
becomes a peeler, when he isr
priced for bait, and a new sA.g IA
completely formed under ID. Ia
coat. ana then a buster when 4. -
shell has started to come loosssrs,
BACK Then In a short tim, s-s-rs
the softer, ready for the ma,tg a..
the table.
From crustacean to Hsress.a
The average life OF a crab Is h--
years The secretary Of the vlr.a
state board OF fisheries. who has -.
led crabs many years. says "a;
single female in the spring OF TIE YEA
VIII produce 100000 eggs. OF, 4
all those only about 200 crabs rltzs
The remainder are consumed BY e;ss
nsh and by crabs. After laying 10
eggs the female crab is eaten BY %
ers Of her species.
The season opens In our vaieHs
May 1 and lasts until Oct. /. vber IN
crabs 60 out into very deep VAR
In the early spring. to be exact 6
March 1, the soft crab season openir
Morehead City, N. c., where TIT
Crisfeld packers go and operate u
the season begins at home.
Shipped Packed In seswesd-
eff when a crab IL unpacked in w
York. 1t is what IL called 'paT
she'll which means that the shell -
begun to harden; that means isE
the crab was properly packed It W
that hard when II started Packs
sea ores (seaweed), they win fess .
until they die. I shipped crabs =
summer to Q friend in Houston. u
q seventy-two hour journey. We
not ship In refrigerated cars. s7'
refrigeratfng boxes.
Some persons do not know hes
tell when q crab IN at to eat 81
Is an infallible method Of telling u
fact that . crab IN dead wses
unpacked does not mean that fhr
essarily spoiled. The way TO tell
pull out one Of the back fms
resists, the crab should be u
condition. II the crab snou'o
thrown away the I'm win cone
easily and win b mushy On %
Brown spots on the top OF soe
crabs do not mean anything Ii
because you win frequently ma
On live crabs. II makes no cis~.
how long q crab has been dess
back I'm pulls out hard.
Prices Of Crabs FIuetuste Grs.
about 75 per cent Of the popo.<
Of Crisneld fs engaged In the -
and FISH trade. But We canno' =.
upon anything like Q regular &c
ton. Crabs may be selling one -,
81 q dozen and In three oaV
may drop to 30 cents because o 80
production. Then q storm may -
the supply and the price 90
agaia- -
.u.s .-.N. 49, rs~ked into u"