Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-11-16
QUEER THINGS hBoUT OYSTERS.
Some Bivaivuiar Facts Which are Not
Generally known.


HOW THEY ARE FED ON CORN MEAL AND SALT
wATER-LYSS HAyESs, Blue POINTS AND NOR
FoLKs-PLASrINs THE pELlcAoIKs A BIO busi-
sEss-soNE ENEMIES THE OYSTER HAS.
The big oyster on the top Of the barrel opened
its jaws YEARLY and closed them with snap,
as il in response TO a scarcely audible gurgle
from the bottom of the keg.
Hes dry ana hungry, too, guess" said the
dealer, in explanation. Its about time TO give
him and the other fellows some dinner" and
he poured over the oysters bucketlul OF sails
and water.
do you call that dinner?" asked The STAR
reporter.
More after the style Of lunch" was the re-
ply You see, sir, it isn't possible for some
unknown reason, TO feed oysters in Washington
as they do in the north. Up there a man will
buy BARREL OF lean oysters. without any flesh
at all on their bones, as you might say, and feed
them three square meals a day Of corn meal
ana salt water, poured over them. and az the
END OF month they will be fat butter.
But oysters won't take hearty grub like that
down here, and two weeks is as long as they
can be kept alive and in good condition on salt
and water plain. lt's funny thing that IL one
hundred bushels of real salt oysters are put on
top OF one hundred bushels OF fresh oysters for
four or hive days. SO that the drainage from the
salt oysters will drip down over the fresh ones at
the end of that time the fresh oysters-suppos-
ing them thin at the beginnng-willb be az plump
as possible and properly salt. while the salt oys-
tiers remain pretty much as before. OF course,
salt water must have been thrown over the
whole stack daily. But, on the other hand. il
the fresh oysters are put on top of the salt ones,
everything else being as in the other case, both
the salt oysters and the fresh oysters will lose
and become thin. When you oysters ON
top OF pile opening their mouths il is because
they are thirsty. the water having drained off
them. Oysters, by the way. will keep longer
and better IN dry cellar than IN wet or damp
one; they want an equable temperature neither
too high nor too low; an oyster that freezes is
dead oyster. Listen to those oysters in the
barrel now; you can hear their jaws go as they
eat In New York have often seen snow nut
on top of the open barrels 10 keep the oysters
cool and moist"
OYSTERS AS cURIosITIEs.
THAT is all very queer" said the newspaper
man.
There are lots ofqueer things about oysters
Thousands of people come to Washington from
the west who have never seen an oyster in their
lives, and oysters are the first thing they order
at the hotels when they come here, for Curl
oslty's sake. Some strangers stopped one day
at my place, and. examining n basket of very
lively crabs, asked me II they were oysters
Usually, too, such visitors eat as many oysters
as they can while they are in the city, because
they feel that they may never have another
chance TO get the luxury. II will surprise YOU,
suppose, TO hear me say that there are more
oysters eaten in Washington than in any other
city in the world. with the possible exception
OF New York. and am not sure of the ex-
ception either. The fayorite oyster in Washing
ton is the Lynn Haven. for those who can afford
| TO buy it; but it Is the most expensive by far.
Lynn Haven oysters cost Sc to IS a barrel. while
Blue Points fetch Ss or So That seems a con-
tradiction; but it isn't. for there-are only about
four hundred oysters in barrel OF Lynn Hav-
ems, while barrel of Blue Points holds LOCO
TO l.5OO oysters, owing TO their smaller size
The Lynn Haven. as you know, is a very big
oyster; II is used for stewing a great deal ina
chatting dishes. Blue Points. from Long Ifland.
and Norfolk oysters are, with the Lynn Ravens
the kinds chiefly used at the capital. 1 myself
think that the Norfolk is quite as good a. the
Lynn Haven, but people have fancies and fash
ION has good deal TO Go with things to eat.
The Blue Point trade is mainly for dinner par
ties where a small oyster is considered the
thing"
REAL BLUE POINTS STILL PIENrIFrL.
But was reading an article the other day
by Charles Delmonico, in which he said that
there were no more real Blue Points; that they
had been all used up years ago."
with all Difference TO Mr.. Delmonico, as
sert that he talking nonsense. What ne
meant was that the original oysters that grew
in the Blue Point beds had been all eaten up
and replaced with other oysters from else.
where. True enough: but the oysters planted
in the Blue Point waters spawned there, and
the young oysters so spawned were necessarily
real Blue Points. For the spawn of one kind
of oyster doesn't differ in any respect from the
spawn Of another kind; it's not like a seed that
way apparently. The water makes the oyster,
and an oyster that is born and brought up. SO
TO speak, in the Blue Point water, wherever
it's mamma came from, has got 30 be Blue
Point and can't be anything else; il will be
ST ne n sha "a hay ma alsar
flavor. Why, there is just as much reason for
saying there are no real Lynn Havens as that
there are no real Blue Points. The natural de-
post of oysters in the Lynn Haven beds was
exhausted long ago, and oysters from elsewhere
were planted in them; the spawn Of the new
oysters grew up, and that is the way in which
the Lynn Havens of today have been and are
still produced. Don't you know that all oys-
tiers are propagated in that same way, by plant
ing the exhausted beds every now and then
with supplies from other places? And does
any one ever discover any difference in the oys-
tiers; are they not always the same, wherever
the spawn comes fromY"
MILLION YOUNG ONES AT A BIRTH.
"The oysters transplantod do not change
their kind?'
mo; but they are only few. comparatively.
They breed-it is estimated that each oyster
produces a million Of young each season-snd
the spawn grow up to be whatever the water
indicates. Water, TO produce the finest oysters,
should be three things-deep, very salty and
perfectly clear. In the early summer, when
the oystermen are thrown out of their regular
employment by the off season, they turn their
attention to gathering oysters and shells for
planting. The shells are for the young oysters
TO fastep TO when they are starting in the
world Oyster farmers hire the tongmen to
bring SO many thousand bushels of oysters and
shells from any where they please and dump
them on the beds which need re-
tom aafats nf luah a1a Arr