Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-01-07


in fiat rearing cases Of wire gauze. The rearing
cases are as important to the industry Of oyster
culture as the tiles, for they prevent the young
oysters from being stiAed by mud, render their
growth regular and rapid, and above all protect
them from their enemies-crabs, boring snails
and star fishes. By this means the mortality
of oysters during the entire three years of their
growth to marketable size may be reduced to
a. low as 10 per cent. The rearing case is Q
simple affair, being merely large Hat box. 6
feet long, feet wide and inches deep. with top
and bottom Of stout wire sAuze. This box or
tray is upheld a few inches above the muddy
bottom by four corner posts. The cases are
arranged below the water line. side by side in
rows. In each case as many seed are put it
will hold, the oysters being sometimes packed
edgewise. Thus case of the size described
may contain %, 900 young oysters. Their rapid
growth renders it necessary to pick out
the biggest ones each fortnight and transfer
them to fresh cases. This labor is performed
at low tide by women who at the same time
sort out the dead shells. Along muddy river
banks their bare feet are shod with great square
mud shoes. Being obliged to make use of
muddy bottoms the culturist macadamizes the
surface mud with sand and gravel. so as toform
crust. which serves admirably for mis- purpose.
BY this means miles of bay and river banks are
constantly being brought into cultivation.
FATTENING OYSTERS.
The most priced of the French oysters are
those which come from Marennes. They are
green or bIuish-green in color and have an ex-
quisite flavor. These qualities are obtained by
transplanting the blyalves finally before send
ing them to market to artificial ponds In
that neighborhood are great areas of
meadow and marsh lands. and here have
been formed. by means Of turf-covered banks,
rectangular pond basins. American oystermen
would be surprised that oysters could be kept
alive. much less grown or fattened, in such
small and muddy salt ponds These are never
theless. the so-called ''claires, famous for fat
tening the oysters and for giving them special
favor and color. The bottoms OK the ponds are
OF the consistency of plowed field. and the
natural sediment from the muddy water would
destroy the oysters if the basins were not ar
ranged with marginal ditch into which all
sediment shifts conveniently for removal. On
the other hand. all conditions conspire to afford
the richest feeding. Minute plant life is forced
into luxuriant growth by warm and food-bear-
ing water. eighty freshened by surface drain
age. OF the yegetal organisms present
by far the greater number are
diatoms-a race of microscopic plants which pos
sess curious power of navigating
about apparently at will. They are
fretted shell of glass. and contain par
ticles of coloring matter. One kind plentiful
at Marennes, though rare elsewhere, has green
pigment. which the oyster feeding upon it
stores away. This pigment is said by cOnnois-
seuFs 10 give the mOilusk an lnlfnltaDle naVOr
as II savored with mushroom or truffie. With
view TO higher market price the culturist
has studied how to give his oysters the greenest
color In the shortest time. Correctly attribut-
ing the cOloration to the green diatoms which
he calls moss and discovering that this moss
develops most readily in muddy basins where
the water is seldom renewed. he has con-
structed bis ponds in the swamp and salt
meadow, drawing fresh supplies of water once
a week from intersecting canals. Under favor
able conditions the oysters will green in fort
night.
EDUCATING THE OYSTER.
Before shipment to market two further pro-
cesses are employed, giving the oysters an ad-
ditional value to the epicure. The first cleans
them inside and the second cleans them out
side. Oysters which have fattened on a soft
bottom usually show traces of black, undi-
gested matter contained in the intestine To
get rid of this the bivalves, on being taken from
the caires, are scattered over the bottoms of
stone basins III clear water, where they are
allowed to remain for week or SO. The SO basins
are for several DAYS allowed to fill and empty
with the tides. This accustoms the oysters to
being out OF the water, and thus they are edu-
Gated for transportation, so that they hold
their shells more tightly together and retain their
fluids while on the way to market. Finally the
shells are cleaned with brush and Jet of
water. Shells incrusted with plant life are
secured with q metal brush. Green oysters of
the best grade cost at retail as high as 4 cents
apiece.
The French have a very poor idea Of Yankee
oysters. just as Americans when travelling are
wont to regard French oysters a. ''coppery and
colored with verdigris." The prospect Of rails
ing oysters from seed in this country is con-
sidered promising by the fish commission. It
would be necessary to adopt the rearing-case
method in order to make the business profit
able. The methods of oyster culture at pre- re
yra in, nnY Iatn IL
along the Atlantic coast are exceedingly crude
The FISHERMAN buys his seed oysters BY the
bushel and strews them over the bottom at a
depth Of two fatho;as OF more. In the course
of time he rakes them up and finds that nearly
all of them have been DESTROYED by crabs
snails and star fishes or by shiftings of sand and
mud. Sometimes he loses his entire har
vest. Each wire-gauze case. which is an abso-
lutte protection against all of these dangers,
costs only So to begin with and so cents year
for repairs. In quantity, by machine manu-
facture, the cost might be reduced to 81. So in
Guiding tarrins and labor of putting in posi-
ton. Case culture would moreover render Of
value many tracts which are now useless solely
on account of softness of bottom.
SOUTH CAROLINA OYSTER BEDS.
The entire coastal margin Of South Carolina
is welAprovided with natural beds Of oysters,
which appear in the shape Of reefs skirting
the shores of river mouths and estuaries. These
reefs are uncovered at every low tide, so that
the bivalves live much of their lives out of
the water as in it. Often the lodges appear to
tho eve curiously like hedge Of
frosted heritage, grayish green in color.
nearer view discloses branching clusters of
clumps Of OYSTERS densely packed together.
The individuals which cap the clusters project
upward like fingers, slender. narrow and long,
whose shape has given them in the south the
name of ''raccoon paws" Hence these natural
grown oysters are termed ''raccoon OYSTERS
Ages ago in South Carolina the oyster lived
under conditions more favorable than those of
today. Shell marls and fossils afford evidence
that in ancient times there was greater sup
ply Of fresh water entering gravel-bottomed
bays and estuaries. In such deposits ars found
the fossil shells of myriads of oysters, small
and thin shelled like the blue points. These
were overwhelmed by black river ooze. and the
few that survived adopted new method Of
living, avoiding the mud by growing in clus-
tiers and by casting anchor along the firm
shore line. Often they were obliged to
create the very land on which to sur
vive, and having learned to live as much in
air as in water, they are hardened to endure the
cold of winter and the scorching heat of the
sun. It is these raccoon oysters which are
counted upon to afford seed for future cultiva-
ton of the bivalves in the waters Of South
Carolina.
Raccoon oysters themselves are not very good
to eat, being tasteless and watery; but by
transportation to suitable beds beneath the low
water mark they are altered in every respect.
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