The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-09-02

fashioned, hard working folk, are careful
and industrious, whose forefathefs Wero
osyffermeen, and whose great grandchliaa aHa
comfortable homes and are in the main,
Americans to the core, and have an ap-
sorbing love and faith in their country.
These folk are interesting, but SO is the
oyster. A majority Of people think tha1
the blvalye is an untamed product OF tne
sea. AS a matter of fact, he is as carefully
attended to as potatoes or corn by the
skillful farmer The planting time OF
| the oyster is in the spring, and the mar
yesting time in the fall and until the
next spring. But the plants of one spring
are not gathered until the fall OF three
years later.
THE PLANTING TINE.
When the harvesting time is over at the
end of March, the oysterman begins to
plant. His first work is to stake out his
farm. The deck of his sloop is piled up
with stakes, usually scrub oaks, 22O feet
in length, denuded of all their branches
except those at the top. The first work Is
| to select his garden. The captain gets
'range' by some object on shore, ana
then proceeds to stake off about 20 or 70
acres. Stakes are driven in the bottom
at each of the four corners. and nall
dozen at intermediate points OF the
square.
| To the novice it is matter of wonder
how skipper can sail into his own par
| ticular garden every morning, when there
are 500 others seemingly like it Ill the
neighborhood The frail stakes protect
| the owner from intrusion as securely as
| if his garden were surrounded BY stone
xUa 10 MT of "a
FISHERMAN. All the planting is done be-
tween April and June ID.
ss.Certain natural beds are set apart by tne
association and here the planting seed is
obtained. Three buehels a day is the
| maximum allowed each member. The
oyster seed is the milk, or spat or spawn,
which is deposited during the summer
season, and adheres to some object in the
| water. This liquid, which is really the
| baby oyster, hardens slowly. When the
| baby oyster has reached the age when It's
| shell begins to form he settles down to
! the responsibilities of life. He first finds
som ething that he can cling to- His
| mother is ofs.no assistance to him, as her
children are too numerous for any lndl-
| yidual care. He selects, perhaps, dead
| star fish, chunk of iron, an old boot, a
cracked bottle, lost anchor, OF anything
else handy. and holds on to it until he
! feels strong enough to begin the battle OF
| life.
To the novices the spawn would never
be recognized. 1t is usually deposited on
empty shells, but closer examination OF
these show hundreds of tiny brown f1ecks.
Each deck is a baby oyster. These shells
are thrown into the garden. In year
after planting they will be as large the
narrow way as nickel, in two years a
half dollar WON'T cover them, while in
three years it is probable that a dollar
will be required to purchase hundred OF
them in New York, and every one OF
them will exceed the dollar in size. All
this when the osyter has fair chance to
grow. He is truly tiny morsel when
he begins his career, and, although full
Of energy seems to know how frail he is.
This max es him clannish, sociable, or
sometimes ,grasping, as you may please
to understand it.
From June Is to September / the oys-
termen have rest. When the harvesting
time begins the boats on the oyster held
seem possessed of some demon which
drives them hither and thither in a most
remarkable way. They tack, gibe, go
about, race back and forth over their re-
pective gardens, with maddening haste.
All the boats are fitted with dredge and
windlass. The dredge is an iron affair,
over three feet. shaped like the human
hand when the fingers are bent in toward
the palm. The windlass is a tall machine,
composed OF two iron uprights, with q
strong reel mounted between them. AT
each end of the reel is large iron crank
and system of cogs and rachets. Coiled
around the reel is an iron chain the end
of which is fastened to the dredge. When
the dredge is thrown overheard and the
boat put in motion, it scoops in every
thing alcng the bottom which comes in
it's way.
When the boat is headed into the wind
and slowed up, the dredge is hauled IN.
Grabs, small sharks, founders and all
manner OF things are drawn in with the
osyters. All but the latter are thrown
back into the water. If any starfish
are killed, as they destroy the oyster.
While the dredge is again in the water,
two of the crew attend to the culling.
Oysters of small size and under age are
thrown back Only those of the recog-
niZed size and shape are preserved. These
are dumped into the hold, and tEen the
deck is ready for the dredge again.
Monday morning until riday is spent
by boat in the bed. Then the market
town is headed for. The catch is turned
over to the shippers First, the oysters
are transferred to float, where they re-
main under water day and half to be
cleared of the bitter sea water and to
freshen and fatten. The oysters drink
the partially fresh water, which clean them
of mud and sand and increases their size.
The "scow gang next takes hold of the
oyster. This gang counts them and packs |
them in bag or barrel Eight thousand |
oysters day is fair catch for boat.