Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-10-11
OYSTERS CAN BE BRED
Tue Fish Commission Going in For
Artificial Propagation.
BOTH MALE AND FEMALE
Chop Them Up Together and Won Have
Billions OF Young Ones-OYster PIant-
ing ON a >CicntiSic BasIs-A Future I'm.
dnstry fer the Southern States.


49, the succulent bivalves as
he wants to eat without extravaganza.
At present the supply of oysters is but frac-
ton of the demand. What the fish commission
desires to accomplish is to bring the mollusk
within reach of all. To accomplish this end it
proposes to establish at least one station de-
voted to breeding oysters by methods newly
invented
The young oysters thus obtained, called
''spat," are to be planted in all the oyster-pro-
ducing waters of the United States. Up north,
on the Connecticut shore of Long Island
sound and in the rivers and estuaries of New
York state. the fishermen are most anxious to
be assisted in this way; down south wide
spread desire is felt to make use Of fresh
scientific discoveries for the purpose Of creating
| a new industry. 1t is only in Maryland that an
entire apathy seems to be felt on the subject
and the oyster beds OF the Chesapeake are be-
ing permitted to so to ruin. simply because the
| state does not think them worth keeping up.
Within few years. if things continue TO go on
as they do now, the Chesapeake will have
ceased to be an oyster ground. At all events,
80 the fish commission says.
| ARTIFICIAL BREEDING.
Two methods are employed for the propaga-
ton of oysters by artihce. One is wholly arti-
fetal and the other only partly so. BY the for
mer a quantity of breeding oysters placed
| in an inclosIre to which the tide has access,
baskets filled with shells and other suitable ma
| terials being so placed as to catch the adherng
spawn as 1t flows in and out with tho tides
! The other process consists in chopping up to-
| Gether the reproductive portions of the male
and female oysters while they are in the breed
I ing condition. Not so very long ago it was sup
posed that the oyster had no sex. Now how
ever. it is known that these bivalves are both
male and female. In the breeding season the
! female expels its myriads of eggs into the flow
| ing water and only those of them become Oys-
tiers which happen to come into contact with
! the germs distributed in the same manner by
the male. This, of course. i'm plies that only
small percentage of the eggs become oysters
| but the fish commission proposes to apply this
blvaivular fecundity in such manner that q
| dozen bushels OF grown oysters shall produce
| one thousand million of young or something
like it. To accomplish this it is simply neces-
sary to mix the male and female milt and eggs
! together at the breeding season. Experts In
this subject are able readily to distinguish the
| sexes Iii the oyster by mere celebration, and the
process can be performed without any material
difficulty or expense worth mentioning. 1t is
commonly imagined that the oyster is O
creature without any anatomical structure
| worth mentioning; but the fact is that it is
rather deliberately put together. The hard
| substance which is called the "heart' is in
reality the muscular structure of the animal
ust behind 1t toward the rear of the oyster is
| the real heart, while the mouth IS situated
close to the hinge that connects the shells.
| FUTURE SOUTHERN OYSTER FISHERIES
Within the last three years North Carolina
| and Georgia have had careful surveys made of
their oyster waters, with a view OF defining the
limits of existing oyster grounds and to ascer-
tanning what other areas are suitable to the cs-
Enlistment of oyster plantations Before very
long these states will have a great oyster indus
| try Of their own, and South Carolina has sue
| cessfully petitloned to have a similar work done
i'll her own behalf. Early in the coming winter
| the fish commission steamer Fishhawk will be-
| gin an elaborate survey OF what are doubtless
destined to become the oyster-producing waters
| OF South Carolina. Unquestionably the other
southern states will follow suit and they will
| be eventually great producers of oysters. The
fish commission is most anxious to do something
in this way for Maryland and the Chesapeake
! but it is prevented from accomplishing any
| thing by the Indifference on the subject of the
| legislature OF that state. By the adoption Of
| such methods as have already been proved so
| New York, the oyster fisheries OF the Chesa-
! peake, it is thought, would be rescued from
| their present moribund condition and be made
among the most profitable in the world.
THE FRENCH PEOPLE
were the first to introduce oyster culture upon
a commercial basis, and in this country the
state of Connecticut led the way in taking it up
Ten years ago a law was passed there directing
| the state to sell, as if it were 30 much real
estate divided into lots, the bottom of Long
| Island sound outside OF the natural oyster beds
near shore. Since that time oyster farming
has become q large industry in Connecticut
| Oyster beds for many miles out into the sound
are cultivated just as potato fields might be-
| and with great profit to those who pay proper
| attention to the work. Such beds are not usu-
| ally selfsustaining, as are the natural ones in-
shore, but by planting them each year with
young oysters they are made to produce several
hundred fold. The production Of young oysters
for planting in this way has grown to be an I'M
| porLant part Of the business, and the planting
| OF them has been reduced to Q most scientific
basis
| PLANTING THE BEDS
| To begin with, in making Q new oyster
ground basis is established by covering the
bottom over the area to be planted with a ma
terial called '.cultch." This cultch is usually
composed chiefly Of oyster and clam shells or
any stuff of that sort Thin shells of whatever
are desirable for the purpose, inasmuch as they
soon rot and fall to pieces, thus distributing
| the individual oysters attached to them. It is
important that the young oysters should be dis
| tributed as much as possible, because when q
| lot Of them attach themselves to a single per-
| manent object like q small rock they overgrow
| one another and aggregate themselves into a
| mass less useful commercially, while their
| growth is itself impeded incidentally. kind
| of lime stone called ''blue stone" from the
Hu lson, is found very useful for this purpose
smashed up into about the size employed for
macadamiZing roads.
PROCURING THE OYSTERS.
Having in this way prepared the bottom for
| what is to be an oyster bed, you must next pro-
cure your oysters. You can buy them OF
| dredgers, who sell them to you in the shape of
| old shells and all sorts Of such truck scoOped
| up from below, which is found to be incrusted
| with young oysters of various ages. From
for this material in the crude, and you simply
| the rest As the shells decay they will distrib-
| oyster bed of your own. Each year you dump
| in many more bushels Of young oysters ss
may be necessary to recruit the supply and
your crop 10 as sure as any other 80 long as you
| ta4e care to keep away the enemies which may
| attack it. II you know how to manage the
| thing you will have number Of beds, permit
| ting the occupants Of some to grow big while
you dredge in others.
FOES OF THE OYSTER.
The chief enemy OF the oyster planters in
Long Island sound and the New York waters ia
the starfsh. 1t is estimated that this foe does
nearly million dollars worth of damage to
the sound oystermen every year. II comes in
droves and will destroy miles OF oyster beds in
an incredibly short time. Fastening itself
upon the oyster and embracing it with its five
arms. the starfsh projects its stomach out Of
its body through its mouth and closes up with
il the opening Of the oysters shell. The vic