The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-10-02
OYSTERS IN THE NURSERY.
Baby Blvalves Raised by hand
Gigantic CLANS and Florida Croco'
diFaG
From the Washington Star.


Gigantic CLANS and Florida Croco-
dies.
From the Washington Star.
ibid you ever see an oyster in the nur
saryF' asked the fish dealer of reporter.
"Nog Well, then, come this way, and III
show you my priva teincubator. It's just
little tank, you see, filed with water: there
are about 1000, 900 young oysters in it. Take
look at them"
The newspaper man bent his gaze wit hin
the little glass aquarium and looked alb out
with eager, though vain, scrutiny for the
II don't see anything" he said, ''but one
big oyster she'll"
That big she'll is the kindergarten" re-
piled the fish man. "There are about q
million baby oysters on it at this moment.
You cannot see them, no matter how close
ly you look, for they are quite microscopic,
but they are there all the same and growing
fast. A mon Ii hence they will be visible to the
naked eye. This is a little experiment |
am making in the scie &c of oyster culture.
have fresh water flowing through the ia TX
all the time, and little salt water running
in also to give the effect of a tide water
river For the first few days after they a Q
spawned oysters have no shells and just float
around on thei- own hook. Then they at
begin to grow. That big she'll is put
in for them to hitch on TO-
FEAST FOR THE FUTURE.
"You say that shall be able to see those
baby oysters month hence" said the re-
porter "Pray. how long will it lie bsfore
can eat them with satisfaction in a stewP'
"They ought to be big enough, for stew
ing two years from now" responded the
tishmonger. But if you want a fry you
will have to wait q year longer American
oysters grow twice as fast as the European
varieties, besides being six times as well
favored"
"When this invisible million here has at
tanned full frying size you will have quite a
bed"
Eyes, indeed. And, if you viii consider
that at every spawning each oyster pro-
duces a million or SO of young, you will
perceive that before long l shall be in po-
sition to supply all the markets of the
world. Under natural conditions, of course
only few out Of each myriad of oysters
actually reach maturity. They have count
less enemies, and even when full grown
they are destroyed in wholesale fashion by
starfish. My incubator system, however
will thoroughly protect taem, SO that nearly
all will grow up and he worth penny
apiece retail. This tank no ion, expanded
to gigan ic scale in real Underwater rivers,
will solve the problem that is causing tie
oyster men so much anxiety at present
The oyster of the future, instead of being
cut off in infancy by devouring creatures Of
the sea, will arrive at luscious prime and
fulfill the highest object of its being on the
deep half shell, with salt, pepper anu lemon
juice on the side"
And the ichthyologist winked his left eye
as he signihed with a smack of his lips his
appreciation of the bivalvular delicacy.
oaE Of On eta.h o,-
ventured the newspaper man, ''who was
was quite offended with me because 1 did
not hand him the pepper caster until he
asked for it. And be demanded if l knew
who he was"
"'No,' said, 4 do not
"'Well, he replied, swelling out his chest
with pride, L am the man who eats clans
until the shells are piled around him up to
his kneesp"
"That fellow ought to go and live among
the coral islands, sugg ested the fshmon-
ger, whore clans grow to weigh $40 pounds
each. A few of those might afford him a
square meal"
"But they are not good to eat, supposeY'
''Oh, yes, they are very good indeed. 1t is
the famous giant clam | speak of that is
found embedded in the coral. The meat of
one weighs twenty pounds, without the
shells, which are often five feet across
Two of them are used in Paris church, |
have heard, for holy water basins They
are carved by the Chin csc, too, into snuff
boxes and all sorts of orn amental things"
That's curious, said the reporter. 1.-The
funniest kind of ella m that ever saw was
called milk clam. | did not know what
it was when picked it up was small
boy then-ln the shallow water l was wad-
ing through. Having no other receptacle
at hand, Iput it into the bosom of nv blue
flannel shirt. next to my skin, and went on
l had gone perhaps 100 yards when l felt a
most horrible sensation at about the region
of my little stomach, aud, hastily pulling
open my shirt in front, l threw out the
newly found clam upon the beach. Pre-
sumably looking for water, it had actually
crawled entirely out of Its shell, I'VE for it,;
attachment thereto. bringing itself into
contact with my bare cu5icle. have re-
allied ever since what ''clammy" sensa-
ton is wit a distinctness not conceived by
most people,"
A REGULAR SQUIRT.
81 have heard of those fellows" rejoined
the fishman, Though l never saw one
1t is comparatively rare variety. But
the queerest of all clans, think, is the
long clam with the little neck, that
squirts salt water at you from small holes
in the sand fats. The neck is as good
siphon as that on seltzer bottle, and it is also
used as tube for breathing and feeding
At the other cad it has sort of foot. with
which it can burrow very rapidly. l don't
know more wonderful instance in nature
of simplicity in organic construction adapted
to elaborate purposes. These long clans
are said to have been the chief food of the
Pilgrim fathers during the first few months
after their arrival on the bleak New Eng
land shore. And. speaking of clans, would
you like me to show you a real live crocodile
from Florida"
~ suppose you mean an alligator"
"No, don't. This is real crocodile He
Is only foot long, you see. aud warranted
not to bite. But, though 1 thought
myself hat he was an alligator
at first, scientific customer