Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1891-07-24
OYSTER PLANTING.
How the Natives Are Bred on the
Shore of Chesapeake Bay.
Interesting Facts Concerning the Growth
and Development of the III
valves Under the Laws
Protection.

When the Chesapeake oysternan has
put away the tongs and dredge, tied up
his boat and balanced his books in the
spring, he Immediately turns his atten-
ton towards laying opt new parks or
rehabilitating the old ones, says the
Philadelphia Times. The close of the
season for oysters in the Chesapeake
bav and its tributaries is from April Is
to September -, and there is vast
amount of work to be performed ere
the tongman or drcdger can again hoist
sail on his pungy or canoe and offer his
cargo for sale in the city markets.
1t has been n matter of great concern
among the authorities regarding the de-
pletion of the oyster crop in Chesapeake
waters by overdredging or through 9TH
er sources of apparent destruction But
the enactment of wise laws from time
to time and the rigid enforcement of
the same have in a measure checked the
wanton annihilation of the oyster parks,
and thus, while many new ones have
been laid out, the old ones have had
time to recupcrate-
The law prohibits the taking of
oysters on Sunday or at night, and dur
ing the close season not more than five
bushels per day are permitted to be
taken, and no oysters in the she'll are
allowed to be sold outside the boundary
of the state of Maryland.
A park consists of five acres of ma
rine territory, which may be selected
by any native first taking out n license
for the same, at any convenient point,
so as not to interfere with or obstruct
navigation. The place usually selected
is in the quicsccnt waters of some cove
or creek, and, if for longing purposes,
in shallow waters and upon as hard a
bottom as it Is possible to secure. Ow-
ing to the remarkable fccundity of the
oyster two or three years is sufficient to
afford paying park. The sandy bot
tom is first covered with several loads
of oyster shells, which are spread about
evenly, to which the spat may adhere
in the process of generation
The old parks are carefully gone over
with light rake in order to remove
the weeds and the accumulation of
other foreign substances, and clay
pipes, old shoes and pieces Of chain
have been taken up to which adhered
from fifty to sixty young fry all the way
from the size of thrcc-cent piece to a
silver quarter. This raling also has n
tendency to break up the density and
compactncss of the oysters and affords
them greater facility to attain their
natural shapes-the elongated she'll,
known in oyster parlance as the ''cat's
tongue" deriving this abnormal shape
from the fact that compression prevents
its expanding properly during its
growth, and many curious freaks in
shape of shell are in the museums,
caused by negligence and failure to re-
lieve this density at the proper time.
The spawn of the female Is reputed
to produce over one million young, and
it is during this period that the oyster has
very thin, dark appearance. tits said
that If all the spat should mature the
creeks and coves would be one vast
mine of oyster shells several feet in
thickness. But from the time this spat
ascends to the surface until it finally in
crcascs in size aIld weight and settles
down to the bottom again, ii has to en-
counter many difficulties, for, floating
about aimlessly on the surface like a
great roll of white ribbon, great part
of it is destroyed by storm or by adher-
ing to overhanging tree limbs, or being
eaten up by fish; and even after it has
found n resting place on the old parks
and developed into the tiny oyster it is
still pursued by its relentless enemies,
the starfish and periwinkle, the latter
boring through the tender shell and
sucking out the oyster. In midsummer
this spat may be seen drifting about far
out on the waters of the Delaware and
Chesapeake bays, and has frequently
been the object of great curiosity among
excursionists.
An old native at Roaring Point, who
was preparing to go out to his park,
was asked what he thought of the re-
ports concerning the depletion of the
oysters in the Chesapeake bay, re-
moved his pipe from his mouth, and,
with smile, said:
''If the authorities enforce the law as
they have been doing and the people
give more intelligent attention to the
cultivation of the oyster it will be very
many years yet before the tongs or
dredge fail TO take up an oyster in these
waters. Why, bless me, I've no doubt
there are beds to-day where this drift
spat has settled that have existed for
years in spots under the waters of the
bay that we know nothing Of"