Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-01-24
The ovster Trade Of Baltimore.

l Tne OyDp0r Iruue Oh bhitltuOfe.
In the annual statement of Trade and Com.
ucfce of Baltimore. prepared by the Editor. Of
he american, we find the subjoncd interesting
ketch of tho Trade in Oysters II is proper Il,
DID, that much the larger quantity Of the delicious
,iyaves which form Important item in the
Commerce Of Baltimore, are taken from the vcin.
ty Of Norfolk: "Atteniion.' says the An,eyican's
rtcle has frequently been directed to tho large
rale carried ON in the article Of Oysters packed
n various ways, but mostly in hcrmctically sealed
in boxes 50 prepared that they keep perfectly du-
ing tho longest voyages and in any climate
| This business is exclusively confined to Baltimore.
he Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries being the
,ny location where this favoritc shcll-fsh is found
n greater quantities than required for home
on-umptnn. We have been ut some pains 10 ms
erain the particulars Of this trade. and now make
| the following statement. with the full assurance
! of it's correctness. The Oysters are all procured
! in tho waters South OF the mouth IF the patapsc,
river. great portion are taken by dredging in
ten to twenty fathoms water. but the largest md
finest are taken with tongs in shallower water, in
the numerous rivers and inlcs, the best being
III silly found towards the mouth of the Chesa-
| pehkc. In many places the system Of planting il
| probably resorted TO, the mode being To take tho
small Oysters from deep water and lay them down
in shallow covcs where they increase in two or
! three years To IL very large size. The process is
M easy and certain one. for the ground requires
preparation. nor is tho crop ever affected by any
! kind of weather, and the increase il unfnlinp
! The Oysters are brought to the city in small vcs-
sells wary ing in size from 20 to l5J tons carving
from 300 TO 5000 bushels each. Among them we
include fast sailing species Of small schooners
called "punges peculiar to our Bay alone and
costing from 81 300 10 $1,000 each The number
! Of vessels large and small, engagcI in the trade
! il csma ed at one Houmnd. The number of hou-
SOS now engaged in the business of packing Oys-
tiers is twenty-five. Tho number Of hands EN-
| Iloyci IN opening. preparing aud packing, varies
from $40 to 1910 men. OF those engaged in
opening or shucking) about ,GDO are colnrcd per
sons, vino acquire great skill and dcxtcrity in per-
forming the operation. The white men nrc mostly
engaged IN packing and saving ice, the number
empio,ed in filling the alone Icing about
100. In some of the establishments ns many ms
| } 900 bushels are opened every day. The whole
numl or opened ut NIL the houses s about Il 900
bushels daily. OF this quantity the produce of
about 1890 bushels is packed in cans. in the
state; the bannccsarc Theoretically scaled, spiccd
and picked for expectation to all Iarts # the
world. Within the la.t ton years the mode of
preparation has been greatly perfected that the
Oysters will keep for any desirable period of time.
Tho picc Of Oysters from the bouts varies nccor-
ding t. size and quality, from 35 to - cents per
bushcl averaging about 10 cts. The quantity Of
tn plato used for tn, cspccin business is M in
considerable item. II Is supposed that the value
Of tin plate and solder annually consumed costs
not less tbnn S25o.uoO. The number of timers
employed in the manufacture of ems is BOD
About 900 900 feet Of lumber are consumed IN
the manufacture Of boxes for packing the cans,
10 make which two hundred carpenters are
luycl Exclusive Of the value of the vessels,
buildings &c. the capital invested in the business
about 81 900 UOo; the amount of the sales each
cason is estimated Ia be S30oo.Uoo. More than
alf tie quantity Of pS -tcrs packed il to the
Weston cities aud sold for cash. Those pre-
cryc,, are sold ON credit other merchandise
Within the last twelve Years the business has in
rcaso ten fd owing to the increase Of facilities
or RAPID transportation. Raw Oysters now
hlpl"I 10 tie tnrthesa points ot tie West, and
each their destination in excellent condition.
lhe preserved Oysters NJ" shipped to the West, to
australia, California. South America. and 10
lous parts nj Europe, the trade appearing t. in
rcasc steadily, ~ the article becomes known
Ne understand that IN foreign markets Chcsa-
,eake Oysters. owing to their superi'I flavor aud
nlidiiy, aud perhaps also to the admirable mode
{ pic>rr,ing their peculiar flavor, greatly in
lemauh wherever they are sent. We must not
init also to state that the shells are converted in
lime for agricultural purposes, and that Mt least
500 ~ are realised from TINS source alone. The
season Tor packing commences Oh the lst of Sep
temhrr and lasts until the middle of May
As said before the Oyster business already
equniling in value that IF the tobacco crop of our
j State. is constantly increasing with no prospect
/ of II limiuutun vi the demand and it is tortu-
nate feature in the nature of the Oyster, that the
more The beds in the rivers are "fshed, the more
rapidly do they seem t. increase. The most exre-
ricnrcd Oy stcrncn assert that they are more alum
dant now than they were years NJ" before there
was any great demand for them. This i, evidenced
10y the tact that except for home use, the business
Of planting" is not followed 1t may well be
supposed thnt where much capital is employed
there Will naturally be great competition. As
there is no lack Of demand for the article. we learn
that the only competition among packers is to
senl forward the best article, preserved aud pack
ed with The greatest care, so that the brand will
not suffer in reputation. we'll knowing that in
| gard to this iavulto luxury. consumers care less
for the cost than they do for the quality. 1t will
be seen from the foregoing that Baltimore has at
least one source of profitable trade of which Size
cannot easily be deprived
Value of the trade IN packed Oysters. So, COO 900
Do Oysters consumed in the city
and ty............................ l.ooo.oJo
lotal,...... f,oU' ,uCo