The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1912-10-31
Real Home Of
the Soft Shells

not know that 1t IL tho greatest AaE
~ 4 the world for Sclt-ahelI CRABS
some hotels in New York eqt TIL
ruDDI,aa n the delicious cTpssasAns
direct from there and thsy nave sea
shipped as far 90 Seattle.
Cria6eId IL in Maryland. down %
the lower part Of the eastern shore.
Il Is not q big place, but tney Sc ssn@
out good things to eat from thsse-~
not only the soft shell crap, eus sns
diamond-back terrapin. the !ansss
oyster. which the gourmets q balsE
more think is to be cIassed among TIE
most delicious OF the species, aaa
white shad. to which those same sour
NETS hold that no Shad ID equal Ans
so on. with which introduction, en-
ter L. r. Carson.
Mr.. Carson was at the Imperial ~
Gently, sayS the New York Sun. he
lives In Crisneld. ID in business thefs
and has made q study OF the CRAB
scientifically and commercially.
"CrisfeId," said Mr.. Carson. pro
duces 90 per. cent Of all the SOFT crabs
consumed in this country. They ara
caught within a r9dius Of ten miles Ct
the town. The old part Of CriVneid
was built on oyster shells, but Of r.
cent years the town has expanded. Is
was only about twelve years asO thae
the discovery that the sOftshelI crab
could be popularixed started aseBOm
and the values of property In the last
six years have trebledts1 -
Evolution % scFt-sfos! Grab. !.
'In the wataFs about Deal1g. TsneteF
and Smiths islands: the soft crabs are
caught in two ways. One = ehnleyed
by the 'scrapers;| who drag an ilRstsu-
ment like an oyster dfedge in the Ne
ter six to twelve feet deep; ffoEa .
bateau or canoe. The .Othef method
is employed by the 'netteEs.s via
stand in the bow Of SklG. pasAine
the boat slowly along In shallow va
ter and making q sw0op with q 6ipaes
when they see crab on the bottOm.
Ninety per cent Of the crabs thus
caught are hard-shslled, and they asa
put into floats and kept until they
shed their shells.
The first stage Of crab 81 psN
crossing from hard to soft Il what b
termed locally a 'snot. The ehanEe
from snot to softer requires IRON
four hours to four days, depending %
the condition Of the crab. The snos
becomes q peeler. when he IL much
priced Tor Dait, and new she'll BAG
cOmpieeeiy formed under Sae Bare
sSas; h h.a len 49, 0uStsr 49, shs 49,
haol- '-I 49, =, 80 - $3.50 aOOSe - -
re so,ta. 'I - - ~ sHOt \. sln4s sAasss
the 49, ' i 1O' 'Ae masAss Aas
49,, $3.50 N'uss@ ~ - naseas'sns
ne a NJ nAe on a.c Z. . ysges
800 Ahe seCretasy oF me vsssAhaa
.es.Oe DVs'rU " MSner1eS' who 80 ~ asssr.
leu leu. css s many yeaIa. aaya l SasS q
8ansie le.1ale N .ne spFaRe 0A 4. tae M
,n pl0uuce 1,zO",Vvy esq 0es
ri s '',Sss VIis AUout ~ Eess ~.
az ~ $500. Ile c"nsulASa " 49,
-asn 1 .la - t'es 49, ~ !,
esss az ~. $3.50 o'Ae = SasA - S.'
S.S ..r = n9t SR9c'Ss.
: 40 season OpenA Y our "essss o9
May 4nu lasts ontH OeN l. Whaa ne
slsDs ~ guy An.O sFeEy aeep Watss.
- tle cary Sprinei % De eXaes. g
marcn = sne sort crap season opene ae
nlorenSau CltH g. " wnefe Mang
CEAshelu packers &c ana operaee anus
tue season Des'ns q MONS.
shipped Packed IN asaNaas6.
III when crab H. unpacksd 10 New
York. Il is what IL called paper
she'll which means that the she'll has
begun TO harden; that means that u
the crab was properly packed Il wss
that hard when i started. Psckea -
sea ores (seaweed). they VIII keep scfs
until they Ole. ! shipped crabs iass
summer TO friend n Houston. Ts1..
q seVenty-two hour journey. We dc
not ship IN refrigerated cars. but ID
refrigerating boxes.
Some persons do not know how -
tell when q crab 10 al to eat. Here
is an infallible method Of telling. The
fact that q crab 10 dead when 90 70
/ unpacked does not mean that & Il nee.
essarily spoiled. Tho way TO tell 8 b.
pull out one Of tho back Ans 81 Il