Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1890-08-01
OYSTERMEN.
ABOARD THE FLEET WHICH SUP.
PLIES NEW YOHK'S BIVALVES.
August is Their Only Idle Month
How the Oyster Goes on Fresh
Water Sprcc-PIant-
ing the Beds.

August is the only month in the yea
when the North River water front be
tween Tenth and Eleventh streets is no
thick with the masts of smart little oys
ter boats. All the rest of the year Their
are spry sloops from Princes Bay, Rocka
way, the Shrewsbury and the inlcts o
Connecticut, with stout seagoing schoon
ers from down the Jersey coast, from
Delaware Bay and even from the shallow
waters of far Chincotcague. Nine hun
drcd and nincty-niuc New Workers out
of thousand have never seen an oyster
sioop except, perhaps, from the Brook,
Ign Bridge or from the deck OF ferry.
boat. Several hundred of these little
vessels ply between New York and the
neighboring bays. If all sloops look alike
to you, rs they do to most persons, you
would hardly know an oyster boat from
n pleasure yacht; and, indeed, the oyster
sloop makes a very fair yacht for those
who do not insist upon the last second OF
speed and the utmost limit of beauty.
Walk through one of the big scows that
help to form solid wooden wall along
the oyster wharves. Standing on the
back porch of the scow, so to speak, you
look down upon Il dozen oyster sloops,
big and little. They run from ten to
twenty tons, and carry mainsail, jib, top
sail and jib-topsail. They are trim mod
els, and on the stern you see in gilt let.
tcrs feminine name, followed by an ini-
tial-a delicate tribute to some wife or
sweetheart. Oysters are piled all about
the deck, and the hold Is full. The
cabin, however, is clean and cozy, with
small stove, hunks, few plates, and
here and there picture. usually there
are three men to each vessel, but the
| schooners from down the coast carry
more.
You may buy a good oyster sloop for
$1,000. Drcdges, tongs, sliffs and floats
cost another $1,000, and having bought
or leased your land under water, you must
have something in bank while your crop
grows. In fact, $4,000 is little enough
to begin on, if you wish to be we'll
equipped and independent oysterman
Ten acres we'll sown with seed oysters
will yield handsome income in three
years, but you must keep on sowing if
you would continue to reap. Most of the
oystermen have partners among the
| oyster dealers of New York. The
New Yorker furnishes the capital, the
oysterman the skill, muscle and technical
knowledge. 1t is Il hard life for tho
oystermcn. They have their little homes
down along the shore, not far from the
oyster beds. There is planting on the
mud i'll ten to twenty-five feet of water;
trausplantiny to hard bottom in shallow
water dredging, longing and fattening
This last process is called giving the
oyster ga drink" 1t is done thus: The
salty oysters, from Princes Bay, Staten
Island, ARE brought from their briny beds
to the fresher water of the north shore
aud dumped out on float. This looks
like an aquatic hencoop 1t is made OF
stout planks, nailed to cleats, with a
space Of half aa inch between each plank.
Around the platform thus made are
nailed heavy logs, which serve the double
purpose OF walls and floaters. The
oysters are dumped down on the Slated
float and the logs are buoyant enough to
prevent the whole from sinking For
twelve or Iiftcen hours the oysters are
permitted to "driuk" the fresh water.
1t is really fresh-watcr spree, for the
oysters come from their drink bloated
far beyond their original size. OYSTER
men say that 4 thousand oysters thus
treated show when slluckcd gain of
fully gallon in bulk. They also cleanse
themselves of sand, lose their stronn
saline taste and improve in odor. The
Shrewsbury River oysters need no such
treatment, for they grow in water con-
siderably less salt than that of Princes
Bay.
Chincoteague oysters come from Chin
colleague Sound, broad, shallow body
of water off the coast OF AccomacI
County, Virginia, between Chincoteagrc
Island and the mainland. The whole
sound is thick with saplings that mark
the boundaries of oyster beds. These
oysters are long, narrow and white. The
island is inhabited almost solely by fisher
men Of one sort or another, and the shore
! for miles is lined IN midsummer with dis
used oyster boats.
are rich in oysters, and some of them
reach this market.
There are few mcrrier sights than
little haven filed with Delaware Bay
oyster boats. There may be no town
within miles, but the oysermcn form Il
village in Themselves. The boats lie close
together, so that social visits are easily
exchanged. There are sure to he few
tiddlcs in the fleet; 'pcach an money
is not wanting and tobacco is abundant
There is nothing cozicr than one of these
warm, lighted cabins on blustcry night.
when the clouds are scudding overhead,
| white cnpc oro irnaLinn for oc ovn o,n
reach and the sound of tiddlcs comes in
musical gusts from neighboring cabins,
mingled with tie creak and the sound of
whistling winds. a sound nights sleep
on board is followed by early stirring, and
the smoke of breakfast rising from a
dozen cabins by the first streak of dawn
Then follows a spreading of canvas, n
sharp race for the oyster beds and day
of toll, to be succeeded by another coy
night inshore.