The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-05-17
OYSTERS IN SEASON.
AN EXPERIENCED DEALER TELLS
WHAT HE KNOWS ABOUT THEM.
The Universal Demand and How 1t Ii
SuppIied-Ths Number New York
DeVOurs I'm a Day-Oyster
Planting. -
LNew York Mail md Exnress.l

New York Mail and Express.l
There will be plenty of oysters this
season., said a veteran oyster dealer of
the North river wholesale market Il
have received advices from all who fur
nish me with the bivalveS From them L
can assure the lovers of oysters that there
viii be no scarcity. We may have to
send farther for them than in years gone
b.
Where do you expect to get the oys,
ters?"
a considerable number will be
brought from the James river The Po-
tomac promises 10 furnish a large
quantity Baltimore aud the shores
of eastern Virginia bid fair TO add
largely to the supply. Besides these there
will be about the usual quantity from
Princes bay, keyport, Shrewsbury river.
East river Rockaway, the sound and
other places nearer home. There need be
no fear of famine in the oyster market
How many oysters will be required
for the opening of the seasons"
Prom the orders received by the diff
ferent wholesale oyster dealers there
was needed for the first day of Sep
TENDER from -, 900 to 100, 900 bushels for
New \ ork 4 bushel contains from $50
to 200, according to size. That makes
from 10, OOO 600 to ~, 00J. 900 oysters.
THAT seems a large number. Is each
days demand as create"
Pretty nearly. | should say that dur
ing the whole season fully 10, 600, 900 oys-
tiers, reckoning at the average rate of BIZ
valves to the bushel will be required 10
supply the market each day. The con-
sumption of oysters is very large. Some
are eaten at the regular meals, others aS
a sort of luxury, like ice cream in sum-
mer. But oysters seem always to be in
DIM 10
scarce it is hard work to keep up the sup
ply; but it has to be done somehow or an
other "
You speak of the season. Are not
oysters good all the year rOundl
es. But it would not do if the de-
mand should be kept up all the summer
as heavy as il is in the winter Oysters
would run out, and it would require
game laws to protect them from entire
destruction. AS it is, many natural
oyster beds have been annihiiated through
reckless fishing. The demand is rendered
less by its being considered unhealthy to
eat oysters when the letter "r" does not
appear in the name of the month. This
allows the oysters time to spawn and 70
a great extent protects them without tho
exercises of the game laws. Besides
which it helps the trade in clans There
are persons 50 much inclined to the use of
shelltish that they feel they cannot live
WlInOul
kind. Consequently, when oysters are
out of season, they consume claims, and
thus give oysters a rest as 1t We're.
The guilty alton of the oyster is as
much business now as the raising Of
garden truck. You would be surprised,
If the statistics could be had at the mum
Der OF persons now engaged in the arti
fetal production of oysters. The oyster
was at one time the natural product OF
the American waters. Years . it was
only necessary to fish for them Now, as
much care has to be taken in planting
them as in planting green stuff. To rob
an oyster plantation is as much crime as
to rob garden. And there are plenty or
oyster thieves, too. Planting oysters has
become quite a trade or profession,
whichever you may like 70 call
it, and the preparation of oysters
for eating has also become an art
You would think by reading the signs on
an an oyster saloon that there are only
few ways of preparing oysters Tor use.
But if YOU 20 to Delmonico's, or some of
the firstclass hotels, you viii find there
are as many ways of cooking oysters as
there are varieties | could not name all
the ways that oysters cooked But still
they do not seem To be sufficient TO suit
the demands of epicures and more ways
are being invented every season by the
French and Other foreign cooks. l re
New York were content with either a
raw, stew, a fry or brOiL But now
oysters have to be done up la something
or other. p"
Are oysters shipped largely into the
interior where they are net produced2"
YES The quantities that go west arc
something enormous. they are opened
near the place Of production. and after
being calefully packed are sent off By
rail Even with the cost Of transporta
ton they can be shipped so that they are
supplied to actual consumers nearly as
cheaply as in New York. The canning pro
cess has made them reach their desJina-
ton in nearly as good a condition as when
fresh opened OF course there is differ
enoe But to those who cannot get the
fresh oyster, those canned or baTeled
form a delicious substitute l do not
think much of the supply which comes to
this market is thus disposed Of. Those
who come here are either actually con
sumed in the city or in the outlying towns
and villages You must recollect that
there is a very large population residing
within Il short distance Of New ork.
They get their supply Of fresh oysters
from - through this market When this
IS taken Tito consideration it will easily
be understood that a supply Of 20, 600, 900
oysters every day cannot be too many.