The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1878-09-07
ALL ABOUT OYSTERS.
Il S SUBJECT or INTEREST TO pEO-
PLE orr T.ISTE,
ttoW they are Bred--A Thriving Trade
Bemoanng THAT Dreadful Letter "R b"

NJ WIZ VI pOCl wy Cl~
opes III the period of about two
years into what tho planters tochni>
cally call "scsd" This "seod" is
planted. OF rather scattered, along
the river bottoms in such places
as are selected, and from them tho
oyster grows The spawn itself is
too unsubstantial to be handled. It
floats in tho water until it teaches d
congenial temperature, when it
settles and fastens to tho bed.
Then it slowly develops until at the
end of from eighteen to twenty
four months it has grown into
scores Of tiny oysters. Those arc
the "sccd." They are taken up and
carried to whatever "ground," as
the river bottom is called, owned or
occupied by tho oystorman. This
process is called transplanting.
Here they arc allowed to remain
for two, threc or five years, as the
case may be, when they are taken
up and brought to market. The
seed which supplies the Now York
dealers is obtained principally from
natural beds III the waters of Newark
Bay and the Kill Won Kull. The
beds III Newark Bay are quite ex-
tens,vc, covering an area Of about
four hundred acros.
WntRE TlIEY THRIVE BEST.
Oysters thrive best on ground
That is soft and muddy. On the
character Of the soil depends tho
size and condition Of the oyster,
BY transplanting dealers are
enabled to obtain slow or rapid
growth as they desire. On soft
soil they grow long and marrow,
but on hard or rocky soil the
oystors become short and thick.
This condition is taken advantage
Of by the Planters who frequently
combine both clemcn,S--i. e., after
leaving them for certain length of
time i'll soft soil they transfer then,
to Il rocky bed. by doing this Il
full round folm is given to the
shell.
The industry, it seems like 9TH
ers, has lis difficulties and draw
backs. Some years the bells turn
out poor and scanty table supplies.
Thrcc ) cars ago an unusually bad
season prevailed, The growth last
year wls excellent, and 20 far the
present year tho planters arc cheer
flll. Three causes operate to de-
vastato the yield The first is the
vorauious drumtisl, with it's spiked
teeth, which crushes the oyster as
a SOU :'rol does II nut. Oftentimes
whole beds arc thus destroyed
The only preventative tho plant>
CTS h: We is to anchor barrels or
boxes to tho bed Of the river,
leaving them floating about few
feet from the bottom. These act
as sort Of pisicultural scarccrow,
frightening tho drumfish away.
Should the oysters he saved from
the fish they have still another
enemy and oftcntmos moro dan
gerous one in tho mussels, which
fasten upon them like barnac,es and
smother them by closing the shells
firmly together. Tho mussols,
however, arc short lived, and when
they do not como in largo herds
they prove beneficial rather than
injurious, as they enrich the soil
and promote the oysters growth.
A third evil sometimes occurs in
shifting bods. Not unfrequently it
happens that large quantities of
oysters are badly shifted from one
planters ground to that of another.
For this there is no remedy, tho
planters being unable to identify
their property from that of thoir
noighbor. This shifting, it has
been noticed, occurs only after
violent storms, which disturb the
rivers bed.
HOW BEDS ARE pRE-EMPTED.
Under tho statute no title in fee
can be obtained to tho bed Of
payigable streams, bGt to promote
the INDUSTRY of oysters growth the
law of long ago gevo.to the adjacent
landowners tho right to cultivate
the bottom. This right is conveyed
by bill of sale, and tho planters re-.
gard tho same as inyiolable. Said
an old dealer, in speaking of the
subject to the writer: :-'It's pretty