Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-11-21
OYSTER CULTURE.
"A New System Which IL Expected Il
RevOlutiOnize the Oyster Industry.


A New System which IL Expected to
RevOlutiOnize the Oyster Industry.
THE PLAN PROPOSED BY Mr.. JOHN A. RYDER, OF
THE FISH COMMISSION sPAT ENOUGH TO
COVER LARGE AREAS CULTIVATED IN A
SMALL POND-THE EARLY LIFE OF THE b.
VALVES.
"There," said Mr.. John A. Ryder, Of the fish
commission. after rapidly sketching with his
pencil a diagram on o sheet of paper before
him, "that represents the pond and canal
which propose to use In spat culture" THE
STAR reporter had asked him for Information
respecting the system which he has devised for
breeding oysters, and which promises to have a
great influence upon the future Of the oyster in
dustry in the south. Heretofore oyster culture
in this country has been confined almost alto
gether to the simple method of sowing shells
upon the bottom. To these shells q portion of
the fry adhered, and in course Of time devel-
oped into full grown oysters. The diagram
pond, and leading from 1t a zigzag canal con-
Meeting the pond with the open water THE
feet square, and will accommodate q hundred
trench, is 400 feet long. I make It zigzag
The area of the pond should about equal
that of the canal. and both the canal and pond
should be of about the same depth, say about
with lodges near the top to support the recepta-
Giles for the cultch. Cultch is the name given to
the material 1 or objects exposed for the fry to
Of oyster shells. The receptacles are formed of
vertical strips OF wood six inches wide, six
inches long, and secured to each other parallel
and three feet apart by a cross piece at the top.
and two horizontal side pieces six inches wide,
secured two feet six inches from the top of the
vertical pieces. Coarse wire netting Is then Sc
cure1 to the vertical strips below the two cross
pieces In such way as to form a basket, which
cultch. One of these receptacies will be allowed
TO every running loot of the canal. The tides
twice day will carry the fry back and forth
through the canal in which these collections are
suspended. That is, the multitude of fry will
with the ebb and flow of the tides or $50 times
during the spatting season"
WHAT ONE OYSTER WILL DO.
"One large OYSTER continued Mr.. Ryder,
"will yield one hundred millions of eggs. A
busnel Of good oysters would yield about a bill
lion of eggs. The hundred billions of fry from
my hundred bushels OF oysters, propose to
and besides will have few spawners in each
one of the receptacies. ] will make Of
methods of fertilization which are essentially
my own. depend, however, more largely upon
the natural brood using artificial fertilization
rs an auxiliary, getting spat from fry produced
"What advantage does this proposed sys-
tenn possess over other systemss' asked THE
STAR reporter.
by taking advantage OF the full spatting capa-
city of the volume of water. Oyster embryOS,
under ordinary conditions in open water diffuse
and affix themselves throughout the three d.
mansions of such q body of water. The methods
which have been used provided for collectors
only at the bottom or on the surface. This
system contemplates that the collectors shall
occupy the three dimensions of the water and
provides a cheap and feasible method OF spat
culture of almost unlimited productiveness.
"a good many people will accuse me of pilfer-
ing from BROOKS. but my methods are radically
solute ignorance of what the other was doing
The paper 1 wrote appeared on the 22d OF Octo-
Der, and his was published at the Johns Hop
kins university on the 2ist of October. Brooks
methods Of using floats provides only Tor the
fry that comes to the surface; mine not only
kes tine fry on the suTacs but that Which
spreads the spatting surface through the whole
depth of the water
CONVENIENCE OF THE SYSTEM.
"Among the advantages of the SYSTEM ne
went on, 'are the convenience and accessibility
of the arrangement. The cultch can easily be
of cultch is completely independent OF the
rest and can be removed and examined at any
stage. A great advantage is that the water
has been found to be very destructive TO the
spat. Under this system, too. a person will
have control OF his plant. The laws of Virginia
and Maryland will not give to one man unlm-
tied control OF the territory under water. The
lawmakers of these states must be educated up
TO q Ucttef UNDERSTANDABLE OF the questions al
iecting oyster culture. For this reason this
method Is especially applicable to the Chesa-
peake region, with its low, marshy shores offer
| ing natural advantages for the construction OF
| such ponds. A plant covering a tenth OF an
! acre will yield 900 bushels of spat, or adult
| oysters, which would cover at least four acres.
bushels to an acre.
"Eave you yet practically demonstrated the
advantages OF the SYSTEM"
MY method was devised too late to pnt in
operation this year." said Mr.. Ryder, '.but it
has been demonstrated by the different expert
by Mather's experiments this year at Cold
Springs where water was pumped through the
Or e1en ane BY the results OF Brooks
surface and got shells thickly covered with
spat. In my own experimentsin $50 in con-
than a square yard, in twenty-iour hours, we
obtained 100000 spat. My present conclu-
sions are based On observations made at differ
ent places. The observations on which
my conclusions as to three dimen-
sions are mainly based were made
upon the work IN the Chesapeake region, where
found that on the brush used as collectors the
spat would catch from point about the middle
clear to the top of the twigs. am hopeful now
81 The 70 Try IL at several points
think at st. Jerome's Creek and Woods Holl
and then il is likely can get private concern
to attempt experiments"
sPAT CULTURE.
''This system is purely a system Of spat cul-
ture to oysters for planting or seed oysters,
as they are called. By the time the spawning
season is over. at the end of ninety days, the
spat is ready to be taken out with the shells to
which 1T is attached and transferred to the bed
where they will be allowed to stay until ready
for the market. The spawning season is over In
ninety days. The oyster will double it's bulk
every year, and in four years be ready for the
table.
"In France and other countries oyster cultiva-
ton has been carried on for long time, and, in
fact, there Is reason to believe that in the days
OF the Caesars attention was given to this mat
ter. The French government, In 1851, made
experiments in spat culture by strewing shells
on the bottom.
"Oyster culture by this method Is now carried
on In Long Island sound by Mr. Rowe, of New
Haven, on q scale without approach in any
other country. MIR. Rowe has now Ii, 900 acres
under cultivation. His business consists chiefly.
understand. in supplying seed oysters to oys-
only one available in waters traversed, as Long
Island sound is. by steamers and other vessels.
Various methods followed in Europe, by using
tiles or states as cultch, lneXpedient in this
country. In Europe the oyster Is regarded as a
| luxury, and commands q high price. In this
/ country the people along the seaboard can con-
sumo oysters without feeling that they are liv-
| Ing extravagantly. The methods In use in Eu-
rope are so cumbersome and expensive as to
| render them OF little service in this country,
| where the Oysterman must get the largest re-
turns possible in order to make oyster culture
| profitable"
| THE EARLY LIFE OF AN OYSTER.
"The term fry, as used by me-" Mr.. Ryder
| said, "means free swimming embryo The ex.
istence OF the embryo is divided up into three
| stages. First there Is the egg, which when fer
| tilted passes through its early stage In from
\ three III fen hOurS and than t,ooo,,nc fv,,