Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-11-27
OYSTER CULTURE.
A New system Which ~ Expected to
RevOlntionize the Industry.
From the Washington star.

From the Washington Sfds.
"There." said Mr.. John A. Ryder. ofthe
Fish Commission, after rapidly sketohlng
with bis pencil diagram on q sheet OF
paper before him, ''that represents the
pond and canal which propose TO usen
spat culture. The reporter had asked
him for information respecting the system
which he has devised for breeding oys-
ters, and which promises 10 have a great
influence upon the future OF the oyster IN
dustry in the South Heretofore, oyster
culture in this country has been conHned
almost altogether to the simple meInCd
of sowing shells upon the bottom. TO
these shells a portion Of the Try adj
hered, and in course of time developed
into full-grown oysters The diagram
which Dr. RYDER drew represented
square pond, and leading from II zigZag
canal connec ing the pond with the open
water. 1.-THE pond. we viii say" con-
tnued DR.. Ryder lis 40 feet square, and
will accommodate 100 bushels Of spawn
ing oysters. The canal, or trench, is 400
feet long. / make 10 zigZag merely for
the purpose Of ecOnomiZlng space. The
area Of the pond should about equal that
OF the canal, and both the canal and pond
should he of about the same depth, say
about 81 feet at low water. The canal
is provided with lodges near the top to
support the receptacles for the cultch.
Cultch is the name given to the
material or objects exposed for
the fry to attach itself to. In
this case the cultch consists Of oyster
shells. The receptacles are formed OF
vertical strips of wood 6 inches wide, 8
inches long, and secured to each other
parallel and feet apart by cross piece
at the top, and two horizontal side pieces
inches wide. secured feet q inches
from the top of the vertical pieces. Coarse
wire netting is then secured 30 the verti-
cal strips below the two cross pieces ia
such way as to form basket, which
will hold about three bushels OF oyster
shells or Cultch. One Of these receptacles
will be allowed to every foot 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 be waited back
and forth, four times a day, with the ebb
and flow of the tides or $50 times during
the spatting season."
WHAT ONE OYSTER WILL DO.
zone large OYSTER" continued Mr.. Ry-
der, twill yield lOO000,0O0 Of eggs. A
bushel Of good oysters would yield about
1000 100000 Of eggs. The lO0,0 600
Of fry from my 100 bushels OF oysters /
propose to have pass back and forth
a few spawners in each one of the recepta-
cles. l Will make use OF methods of fer
tlliZation which are essentially my own.
/ depend, however, more largely upon the
natural brOOd-using artificial fertiliza-
tion as an auXiliaTy-get spat from
fry produced naturally"
"What advantage does this proposed
system possess over other systems~
asked the reporter.
IL ha
chances, by taking advantage Of the full
spatting capacity of the volume OF water.
Oyster embryOs, under ordinary cOndi-
tons IN open water ditfuse and affix them
selves throughout the three dimensions
Of such a body Of water The methods
which have been used provided for cOllec-
tors only at the bottom or on the surface.
This system contemplates that the col
lectors shall occupy the three dimensions
OF the water, and provides cheap and
feasible method OF spat culture of almost
unlimited productiveness.
"'A good many people will accuse me
OF pilierng from Brooks, but my methods
are radically different from Brooks We
worked each in absolute ignorance OF
what the other was doing. One paper l
wrote appeared on Oct. %, and his was
published at the Johns Hopkins univer-
sity on Oct. 81. Brooks methods Of using
to the surface; mine not only takes the
fry on the surface, but that which sinks
to the bottom as well. My system sim
ply spreads the spatting surface through
the whole depth Of the water"
CONVENIENCE OF THE SYSTEM.
Among the advantages Of the SYSTEM"
he went on, ''are the convenience aud
accessibility of the arrangement. The
cultch can easily be overhauled il neces-
sary. Every three bushes OF cultch is
completely independent Of the rest, and
can be removed and examined at any
stage. A great advantage is that the
water rushing through keeps of the sedi-
ment, which has been found TO be very
destructive to the spat. Under this sys-
tenn, too, person will have control OF
his plant. The laws Of Virginia and
Maryland will not give to one
man unlimited control OF the
territory under water. The lawmakers
Of these States must be educated up
70 better understanding Of the question
affecting oyster culture. For this reason
this method is especially applicable to
the Chesapeake region, with its low,
marshy shores Offering natural advan-
tages fO- the construction of such ponds.
A plant covering tenth of an acre will
yield 1000 bushels Of spat or adult Oys-
ters, which would cover at least four
acres. l would not think Of planting more
than 25O bushels 20 an acre"
"Have you yet practically demonstrated
the advantages OF the system 20
MY method was devised too late to put
IN operation this year." said Mr.. RYDER,
shut IL has been demonstrated by the diff
ferent experiments made, by my own ex-
periments in 1852, by Mather's expert
ments this year at Cold Springs, where
water was pumped through the shells or
cultch and by the results Of Brooks work.
Brooks suspended his collectors on the
surface and got shells thickly covered
with spat. In my own experiments in
1882 in conjunction with Mcdonald In an
paratus not more than square
yard, In "A hours, we OBJ
tained 100000 spat. Ny present conclu-
sions are based on observations made at
different places. The observations on
which my conclusions as 70 three dimen-
slons are mainly based were made upon
the work In the Chesapeake region,
where l found that on the brush used as
collectors the spat would eaten from a
point about the middle clear 10 the ton OF
the tWigs. / am hopeful now Of having a
chance 10 try Il at several points. The
government will make experiments. /
think, at 81. JerOme's creek and Woods
hole, and then II is likely / can get pr.
Vate concern TO attempt experiments"
sPAT CULTURE.
This system is purely a system ofspat
culture TO rear oysters for planting, or
seed oysters, as they are called. BY the