Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-11-16
The OYSTER.
Something About the Bivslve of England
America and France.

The home of the native is al
Whtstable in Kent. Ii Is cu tvated
and carefully tended from cradle 10
crave by company OF prosperous ana
happy co-operatOrs. who have all oeeh
born with silver spoons Ill their mouths
there is but one way OF entering this
tiourishng corporation. and that Is ny
birth. The oyster farmers OF "hit-
stable are hereditary. and the company
seem to flourish the more. the older
theyIbecome. They hold atall times an
enormous stock of oysters. which they
keep in stock till such times AS he Prlce
offered en,ices them TO sell lhe com
panv buy smslI oysters. and make 1t
their business TO nurse them III they
are Tilted to enter All appearance IN the
market. Ii is only on rare occasions
that their own oysters Weld visible
spat; were they TO obtain a fall once
even in ten wears, il would treble the
iucome of the company. The spat
of pair Of oysters Will SEED an acre OF
ground. The co-operators At Whlt>tahlc
have in some years paid as much
As $50. 900 for brood, which they
purchase from all comers. and there are
MANY persons who III Ike IT their busi-
ness IL gather it on the Essen side and
elsewhere On some occasions As much as
tifty shillings bushel has been given for
brood but the purchase pIOves profit
able one. as in the course OF few years
that quantity of oysters will have be-
come worth from twelve TO fifteen
pounds.
The natural history of the oyster. al
though If has been handled by Huxley,
is not well understood Some persons
maintain that the animal is hcrmaphro-
dite. others say it is not. In America,
where those interested have happy
knack of finding out the truth. it has
been proved that the oysters of the
United States are OF two SeXe.. When
the parent oysters emittheir spawn il is
necessary that it should obtain a hold
ing-on place; without some coign of
vantage TO which it can cling, the in
fant bivalve will assure ily perish. In
some seasons the spaNn Is waited
away to places where it can not
live. and that fact in due time
becomes factor in thr supply.
The French know this well and have
utilized their knowledge: they have in
vented TILES covered with cement and
apparatus of various kinds. with which
to intercept the spat tspawn); these
are pla ed on the beds o. the paternal
oysters. and are found of great use.
When the spat has grown to the size OF
a four penny bit it is picked off the
tiicS. or rather the coating of cement
is peeled Of. and laid down in places
wh"re the Juveniles may thrive and
grow fat. Enormous numbers of ov-
sterS are thus dealt with on the
French coast At Arcachon there are
over !. 800 parcs in which shellti~h are
cultivated. and As many as 2OO.uOO,OD
have been gathered for expectation in
the course Of one year.
Our stork OF oysters at home has
been largely supplemented by impor-
tati".l- from France, and from America
as well. The United States and Canada
are able to stand an annual draft on
their oyster beds of 5.572 900. 600 indi-
vidual bivalyes (some o. them being
about three times the size OF our ma
tives' }: that is, double the quantity
consumed by all the oy-ter-eating
communities of Europe. In Great Brit
am We have been known in some wears
to consume as many rs l.6UO, 600, 900
natives and other kinds. London
World