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

For a number of years the catch of lobsters was sold by the fishermen to the dealers and by the latter to the trade as rapidly as possible.  In doing this the markets would be flooded at certain times, when the price would drop to a very low figure, while at other times they would be very scarce, which would enhance the price materially.  The dealers were the first to see the necessity for devising some method by which lobsters could be secured when they were plentiful and cheap and retained in captivity until they became scarce and high in price:  Inclosures of various kinds had for some years been in use in the fisheries in various parts of the country for the purpose of keeping certain species alive until the time came to utilize them.  In 1875 Johnson & Young, of Boston, established an inclosure or pound near Vinal Haven, on one of the Fox Islands.  A cove covering about 500 acres, with an average depth of about 90 feet, was selected.  A section of about 9 acres, separated from the main portion of the cove by a natural shoal and with a bottom of soft grayish mud, was selected for the pound.  In order to make it proof against the efforts of the lobsters to escape and as a protection from enemies without, a wire fence was built over the shoal part.  This section had a depth of from 15 to 60 feet, and a capacity of about 300,000, although there were rarely that many in the pound at one time.

[Illustration:  Inclosure for live lobsters at Vinal Haven, Maine]

The lobsters are bought from smacks and from fishermen in the vicinity during the height of the fishing season, when the price is low, and are retained in the pound until the price becomes high, which is generally during the winter season.  They are fed with fish offal, which can usually be bought at Vinal Haven for $1 per barrel.

Oily fish are not fed to them, as it is said that the lobsters decrease in weight on such a diet.  Experience has shown that the quantity of food required depends largely on the temperature of the water, as lobsters do not eat as freely when the water is cold as in water of a higher temperature.  When wanted for shipment they are usually secured by means of pots, seines, or beam trawls.