Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-02-24


itself of the plentiful vegetable sustenance
Inc change came about at a period COM
paratVely recent, though IL must have oc-
CURED many millions of years ago. The
oyster you see, is a very ancient creature.
These things are inferred mainly from a
STUDY or the newly Matched oyster which
ior some Gays after coming into the world
is ffee-swimming animal. 1t is only after
seeing somewhat of such active life that IL
is content to settle down and become a
fixture for the rest of its natural existence
IL usec TO be supposed that there was no
distinction of sex among oysters-in fact
that they were hermaphrodite This notion
has been exploded. There are males and
females, and each one OF the latter when
adult lays about 100000 eggs in a season
These are not cared for by the mother as
is the case for a time with a Euronean
species of oyster, but are simply thrown
opt into the water to shift for themselves
Nearly all of them are lost and perish, but
some or them encounter the germinal cells
thrown out by the males, are thus fertilizeo
and SO develop.
Enormous Rate of Increase.
If all the eggs were to be fertilized, and
were to live and to grow to maturity, they
would fill up the entire bay in a single sea-
son. Indeed, this statement is much short
of the truth. 1t has been calculated that
the descendants of a single female in five
generations would number 66oOO 600 600
200, coo, 600 900, 100000. These oysters
would make more than eight worlds. even
If each female laid only one brood of eggs
AS the oyster lives for many years. and
lays eggs each season, the conceiva bile rate
of increase is very much greater than thai
shown by the figures
The waste of oyster eggs through lack
OF termination is enormous. but il is pos
Sible to fertilize them artificiallv nv mixing
the eggs and the male cells i'm a small ouan
tity of water, where they are certain 10
come into contact with each other In This
way about IS per cent of the eggs will be
saved and made to produce Young oysters
DR.. Brooks, 10 whom the writer is indebted
for his information, says that he has had
al one time in a small tumbler of water a
number of active and healthy oysters great
er many times than the whole human nonu
lation of Maryland
Having become fortified by meeting with
male cells, the next period Of great danger
to the oysters is the short time during
which the young ones swarm at the surface
of the water. They are so defenseless and
SO crowded that a small fish, swimming
along with open mouth, might easily swai-
low IN a few mouthfuls a number equal to
years catch in the Chesapeake They are
also exposed to the weather and a sudden
cola WIND or fall in temperature will kill
them by wholesale. AS soon as they are
safely past this stage, and scatter and
swim at various depths, their risks from
accidents and enemies are greatly diminish
60. Up to this point there is no difficulty
In rearing them in an aquarium Possibly
some such method will eventually be ap-
phed TO propagatfng oysters. with a view
TO planting them as soon as they are ready
to attach themselves and to become seden-
tary.
The next difficulty encountered by the
young oysters is that OF finding some solid
BODY on which to establish themselves n
tney rail- upon the soft bottom they are
pur1ed and s;nothered in he mud Only
very small percentage of these which
survive thus far are able to secure places
OF residence adapted to their way of living
Ihey attach themselves to shells. rocks
noatlng bushes or whatever NAV promise
a secure Judgement. Where the bottom is
sort in the Chesapeake there are no ovs-
tiers. The so-called rocks On which ttsy
oWeil IN those waters are rot ledges ror
reefs, but accumulations of oyster shells.
Planting Oyster shells.
Accordingly. it appears that great help
may be Afforded to the oyster-prod ic!rg
industry by scattering shells upon the bot
tom' thus ahording beginning for new
beds. This has already been practiced to
large extent in Connecticut Shell plant
ing should not be attempt I'd until the
spawning season has arrived, which is the
month of June i'm Maryland. because shells
that have been laid down for a few DAVIS
become SO Shiny that the emu~yos are IN
able TO attach themselves From Loo 10
LOO bushels per acre should be EMPLOYED
The process might be compared 10 scatter
"
pectaticn of picking up ripe ears in fun
grain at later period. The number of
oysters which attach themselves to the
shells thus laid down is commonly so great
mat they crowd each other put and do not
properly develop. This is avoided by TAX
ing them up with dredges when the new
BED IS TWO years old and knocking the
smells to pieces, which are either sold as
seed to be planted elsewhere, or are re-
distributed over a greater area of bottom
in order that they may have plenty of
space to grow in. Scollop Shells or nussel
shells are even better for the purpose
when they can be procured in sufficient
quantity, because they are so fragile that
the strain of the growth of two or more
oysters attached to single mussel or
scollop valve will often crack At into pieces
permitting the several members of The
bunch 10 separate and grow into. good
shape singly.
There is hardly a spot in Chesapeake
bay that might not be converted into an
oyster bed by this simple me;hoi of culti-
walton, which has been shown 10 Weld a
very great return for the capital and labor
employed. In course of time even The soft
muddy bottoms of the deepest channels
may be transformed into beds. 1t is doubt
fdl whether there is any far.nag land in
the United States which yields so great a
profit to the acre as the bottoms used for
oyster planting in Rhode island If all
the area OF Maryland proper for this nur-
pose were utilized in the same way IL
would. if no more profitable than the oys-
vast sum of two thousand million dollars
into the hands of the planters each year.
Oysters used to be very plentiful along the
New England coast north Of Cape Cod.
They We're exterminated by reckless FISH
ing many years ago. The pious oystermen
CT Wellfieet, on Cape Cod, after they Rad
wiped out their oysters by everlasting laid
the loss upon Providence, which had they
said, punished them for their sins by in
flicting 4 fatal disease upon the innocent
bivalves.
The Need of Protection.
The NEST serious obstacle to oyster Gull
ture in Maryland is the lack of protection
for planted oysters No law gives any
rights to the owner in a bed which he has
created. In enc instance a farmer raised
100000 bushels of fine oysters on about
seventy acres of bottom. They were all
taken by tongmen and dredgers. According
to the theory now held. the oyster beds are
the property Of the state, and no one person
has any more right to them than another
The oyster fisheries of Maryland now
afford precarious employment for a few
months in each year to about $1,000 oyster
men. They ought to give profitable work
to 50J,O0. They have paid to oystermen
about S2.c0o.0C0 annually; they ought to pay
to cultivators S6o.0BO,UOo a year. Only a
very small part of the bottom which is