Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-09-21
OYSTERS IN THE NURSERY.
Baby Bivalves Raised BY Hand-Gi-
gantic CLAIMS and Florida Crocodiles.


Baby Bivalves Raised BY Hand-Gi-
gantic CLANS and Florida Crocodiles.
"Did you ever see an oyster in the nursery2'
asked the Hsh dealer Of STAR reporter. mo!
Well, then, come this way, and I'll show you
my private incubator. It's just little tank,
you see, filed with water; there are about a
million young oysters in it Take look al
them"
The Newspaper man bent his gaze within the
little glass aquarium and looked about with
eager, though vain, scrutiny for the infant b.
valves.
81 don't see anything" he said, ''but one big
oyster SHELF
THAT big shell is the kindergarten" replied
the fish man. "There are about million baby
oysters on it at this moment You cannot see
them, no matter how closely you look for they
are quite microscopic, but they are there all
the same and growing fast. A month hence
they will be visible to the naked eye. This is
q little experiment am making in the science
Of oyster culture. have fresh water flowing
through the tank all the time and q little salt
water running in also to give the effect of a
tide water river For the FIRST few days after
they are spawned oysters have no shells and
just float around on their own hook. Then
they attach themselves to something and the
shells begin to grow. That big shell Is put in
for them to hitch on to"
FEAST FOR THE FUTURE.
'You say that shall be able to see those
baby oysters q month hence" said the reporter.
"Pray, how long will it be before can eat them
with satisfaction in stew?'
They ought to be big enough for stewing
two years from now" responded the fish
monger. "But If you want a fry you will have
to wait a 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 q
bed"
''Yes, indeed. And if you will consider that
at every spawning each oyster produces a mil
lion or SO OF young, you will perceive that be-
fore long shall be in a position to supply all
the markets Of the world. Under natural con-
myriad OF oysters actually reach maturity.
They have countless enemies, and even when
full grown they are destroyed in wholesale
fashion by starfish. Ny incubator system,
however, will thoroughly protect them,
so sDd that hs w NEARLY all will grow up
tail This tank notion, expanded to a
gigantic scale in real tide-water rivers will solve
the problem that is causing the 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 a
luscious prime and fulfill the highest object of
its being on the deep half shell, with salt, pep
per and lemon juice on the side."
And the ichthyologist winked his left eye as
he signifed with smack of his lips his appre-
citation of the bivalvular delicacy.
II met person once at an oyster bar" ven-
tured the newspaper man, ''who was quite
offended with me because l did not hand him
the pepper castor until he asked for it. And
he demanded If knew who he was"
"'No,' said, 4 do not
"'well,' he replied, swelling out his chest
with pride, i am the man who eats CLAIMS I'M
til the shells are piled around him up to his
kneesP"
'That fellow ought to go and live among the
coral islands," suggested the fish monger,
where CLAIMS grow to weigh 500 pounds each.
A few of those might afford him a square
meal"
but they are not good to eat, SUPPOSED"
sob, yes, they are very good indeed. 1t is
the famous giant clam l speak of that is
found imbedded in the coral. The meat of
one weighs 20 pounds, without the shells,
are used in a Paris church, i have heard, for
holy water basins. They are carved by the
Chinese, too. into snuff boxes and all sorts of
ornamental things"
That's curious" said the reporter. "The
funniest kind OF clam that ever saw was
j
when picked it up-I was a small boy then
in the shallow water l was wading through
Having no other receptacle at hand put it
into the bosom Of my biue-fannel shirt, eXt to
my skim and won't on. had gone perhaps 100
yards when l felt most horrible sensation at
about the region Of my little stomach, and
hastily pulling open my shirt in front, l threw
out the newly-found clam upon the beach.
looking for water, it had actually
crawled entirely out of its she'll save for its at
taehment thereto. bringing itself into contact
with my bare cuticle. have realized ever
since what q "clammy" sensation il with a dis
tinctness not conceived by most people,"
REGULAR SQUIRT.
~ have heard Of those fellows" rejoined the
fshman. though never saw one. 1t is a COM
paratively rare variety. But the qussrest of
ell 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 az that on a seltzor bottle and it
is also used as a tube for breathing and feed
ing. At the other end it has sort of foot,
with which it can burrow very rapidly. / don't
know a 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 England shore And,
speaking Of clans, would you like me to show
you real live crocodile from Fiorida?"
Il suppose you mean an alligator"
mo. don't. This is a real crocodile, He
Is only foot long, you see, and warranted not
to bite. But though thought myself that he
was an alligator at first a scientific customer Of
mine who has some connection with the Smith
sonian explained to me that he wasn't. Ac-
cording to what he told me there are two va
rieties Of crocodiles in Florida, as well as five
varieties of alligator. The crocodile and the
alligator are first cousins, and SO much alike
that it takes an expert to tell them apart. But
while the alligator never grows to be more than
fifteen feet long the crocodile sometimes at
tains double that size. The crocodile is also
peculiar for having taste for human flesh.
In ancient Egypt, my Smithsonian customer
said, half the people worshiped the crocodile
as a god, while the other half believed him to
be the devil. Many of the reptiles were taken
care Of by the priests, who adorned them with
precious ornaments and even covered their
scales with gold leaf.
HOUSEHOLD ECONOMIES.
c.