The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-01-20

trltiing, estimated at from to 5 per cent.
The young mollusks are at once placed In
baskets and are transferred to growing
ponds. They are worth from so cents 10
81 80 per 600, according to size and
scarcity. Each proprietor has relations
with a number Of growers whom be reEu-
larry supplies, so that he finds no difficulty
in disposing OF his product. TRANSPORTATION
is accomplished with small loss.
The raising Of the seed oysters in the man
ner described is not 8, difficult or very ex.
penslve affair. Where cost and lAbor are
involved is In rearing the young bivslves to
marketable size. When the grower gets
them they are only as big as a finger nail
he must place them under the most favor
able conditions for development and fatten-
ing, must care for them and must finally
send them to critical market, perfect in
shell, plump and delicate in flavor. His
work begins when he receives the freight
or millions of seed from Archacon or
Auray. These are unpacked, carried down
TO the low water line and arranged in fat
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 ,srifed 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 mar
ketable size may be reduced TO as low as 10
per cent. The rearing case is q simple
affair. being merely large fiat box, feet
long, feet wide and & inches deep, with
top and bottom of stout wire gauZe. This
box or tray is upheld a few inches above
the muddy bottom by four corner posts.
The cases are arranged below the water
10 nv Gid in In oh
many seed are put in as it will hold, the
oysters being sometimes packed edgewise.
Thus a case. OF the size described may
contain %, 600 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 culturst
mechanics the surface mud with sand
and gravel. 80 as to form crust, which
serves admirably for his purpose. By this
means miles of bay and river banks are
constantly being brought into cultivation.
FATTENTNG OYSTERS.
The most priced of the French oysters are
those which come from Marennes They
<
an. exquisite flavor. These qualities are OBJ
tanned by transplanting the bivalve finally
before sending 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
fattsned, in such small and muddy
Ill,
the so-called "claires,n famous for fat.
tening the oysters and for giving them
special favor and color. The bottoms Of
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 arranged with q margi-
nal ditch into which all sediment shifts
conveniently for removal. On the other
hand all conditions coDspire to afford the
richest feeding. Minute plant life is forced
into luxuriant growth by warm and food
bearing water, slightly freshened by surface
drainage. OF the vegetal organisms present
by far the greater number are diatoms--a
race of microscopic plants which possess q
curious power of navigating about sp-
parently at will, They are trans
parent, incased in deiicately
fretted she'll Of glass, and contain particles
Of coloring matter. One kind plentiful at
Marennes, though rare elsewhere, has a green
pigment, which the oyster feeding upon 1t
stores away. This pigment is said by connois-
ssurs to give the mollusk an inimitable flavor,
as if savored WITH mushroom or truffle.
With a view to higher market price the
cuIturIst has studied how TO give his
oysters the greenest color in the
shortest time Correctly attributing 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
constructed his pond in the swamp aud salt
meadow, drawing fresh supplies of water
once a week from intersecting canals.
Under favorable conditions the oysters will
gree ina fortnight,
EDUCATING THE OYSTER.
Before shipment to market two further
processes are employed. giving the oysters
an additional value to the epioure. The
first cleans them inside and the second
cleans them outside. Oysters which have
fattened on a soft bottom usually show
traces of BLACK, undigested matter cln-
tanned In the intestine To get rid Of this
the bivalves, on being taken from the
cIaires, are scattered over the
bottoms of stone basins Ia
clear water, where they are allowed
to remain for q week or so. These basins
are for several days allowed to fill and empty
with the tides. This accustorns the oysters
to being out OF the water, and thus they are
educated for transportation SO that they
hold their shells more tightly together and
retain their fluids while on the way TO mar
ket. Finally the shells are cleaned with
brush and jet Of water. Shells incrusted
with plant life are secured with metal
brush. Green oysters OF the best grade cost
at retail as high as cents apiece.
The French have very poor Idea OF
Yankee oysters jusJ as Americans when
travelling are won't to regard French
oysters as "ccppery and colored with verdi
girls" The prospect of raising oysters from
seed in this country is considered promis-
ing bv the fish commission. 1t would be
necessary to- adopt the rearing case
method in order TO make the business
nrotiteble. The methods of oyster culture
at present praticed in Long Island sound
and elsewhere along the Atlantic coast are
erceedingly crude. Tne oysterman
BUYS his Feed oysters by the bushel and
strews them over the bottom at a
depth of two fathoms or more. In the
course of time he rakes them up and finds
that nearly all of them have been de-
stroyed by crabs, snails and star fishes or by
shifbings of sand and mud. Sometimes he
loses mis- entire harvest Each wire gauze
case, which is an absolute protection against
all of these dangers, costs only 50 TO begin
with and 80 cents year for repairs. In
quantity, by machine manufacture, the
cost might be. reduced to 81 so, including
tsrriuR and labor of putting in position.
[ ase culture would moreover render Of
value many tracts which are now useless
on account Of softness Of bottom.