The fishermen and small dealers use various kinds of boilers, from an ordinary washboiler to a smaller form of the regular boiler used by the large dealers. The product prepared by these people is generally picked from the shell and sold locally in that condition. This opens a way for the fisherman to evade the 10-1/2 inch limit law. They frequently take lobsters under the minimum legal size and, after boiling them, pick the flesh. It is then impossible for anybody to tell what sized lobster the meat had come from. Quite a local trade in the picking of lobsters has been established in a number of small coast towns, the meat generally being sold in the immediate vicinity. The following table shows the extent of the wholesale lobster trade in Rockland and Portland during 1898, including everything connected with the business except the smacks and pounds, which are shown elsewhere. There are a few other dealers scattered along the coast, but most of the business is concentrated at these cities. An idea of the extent of the increase in the lobster trade of Portland can be gained when it is stated that in 1880 about 1,900,000 pounds of lobsters, valued at $70,000, were handled here, while 6,145,821 pounds, valued at $611,955, were handled in 1898. Extent of the wholesale lobster trade of Rockland and Portland in 1898. Rockland Portland -------- -------- Value of property, capital, and wages Property, etc $14,338 $44,770 Cars 850 6,800 Cash Capital 22,000 110,500 Wages 4,676 18,198 Number of persons engaged Firms 2 10* Proprietors 3 13 Clerks 2 2 Other Employees 7 31 Rockland Portland Lobsters bought -------------- --------------- and sold No. Value No. Value --------------- --- ----- --- ----- Bought, No. 692,188 4,097,214 Bought, lbs. 1,038,282 $89,984 6,145,821 $611,955 Sold, lbs. 795,934 91,532 5,308,027 690,045 Sold, lbs. 347,815 26,705 515,518 82,483 *Several of these firms also handle other fishery products. LOBSTER POUNDS