Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1896-05-21
OYSTER CULTIVATION.


Phiiadelphia Ledger.
The oyster is familiar enough oh.
ject, yot how few people there are who
can tell anything about its origin, it's
home, its varieties or the way it is pro-
pared for market. In a general way IL
is known that 1t comes from salt or
brackish water. There are salt and
fresh oysters, coves, blue points,
cherry stones and what not
Docs the question arise whether or
not these are different species or all
the same oyster, grown under different
conditioner Not often. and then the
answer is not easy to got. II ID
recognized that John Smith always
sells good oysters. while Henry Browns
are inferior, without knowing tho
cause OF the difference There are
peopls also, who are quite positive
that there should he an r in the
month when luscious bivalves are in
dulgod in, and that spelling August
with an R\does not improve the oyster.
When nature ia bountiful waste
| abounds, and ii is not until the supply
| or the quality deteriorateB that art
comes forward 10 restore what has been
lost And SO itNhappens that the oys.
ter, which has heretofore been pro-
duced in sufficient abundance for the
rapidly increasing demands of this
growing nation, has reached point
in its history when more scjentific
methods of propagating aud eufti-
waiting it must be ADOPTED to prevent
its utter extinction.
The seashore Indians ate oysters be-
fore the present day, but they were
small ones. Roofs Of oysters lay off
the coast of Virginia, and in smaller
quantities at other points on the coast. ,
The Chesapeake bay has always been
noted for the great variety and
abundance of this smell fish. In a
state of nature they grow only to size
of 216 to 3 inches long, and are not fat.
1t was found that IL taken from the
reefs, separated and scattered over tho
bottom of a swampy or mucky inlet or
bay, they would in year or two grow
much larger and acquire fine favor
varying with the locality; hence the
difference in oysters. The natural
beds or reefs from which the seed oys-
teis are obtained are in Virginia, con-
trolled by the State, which has per-
mitted everybody to procure seed, but
has prohibited any but her own citi-
zens from cultivating and selling
oysters from tho waters of the State.
The constant raking over Of the reefs
destroys large proportion of the young
oysters, and thoughtful experts, like
Dr. Brooks Of Johns Hopkins Uni.
versity, for many years oyster come
missioner of Maryland, have said that,
under tho present abuses, tho oyster
TRADE of chesapeake bay is doomed.
An association has been formed,
which has been chartered by tho com
monwealth of Virginia, which proposes
TO cause oysters TO grow more pro-
lifically and to develop finer species, as
gardeners produce finer flowers and
fruits from an originally insignificant
stock. The charter gives exclusive
rights to certain planting grounds and
territory in Virginia waters on the
ocean side of the State ut Broadwater
Island. The system of cultivation pro.
posed has been developed by Joseph L.
Terrell, formerly of Philadelphia, oned
Of the ineorporators named in thea
charter. Free access is given TO the :
vast areas of natural oyster deposits
near by, where oysters grow more pro-
ILLEGALLY than elsewhere in the world.
The young "spat, or little oysters,
taken from these deposits are broken
off from the mass or block of shells to
which they are attached, and deposited
on the clay OUT beds, whore they re-
main for from ono to two years. They
are then taken and deposited in inland
canals, or parks, or as the French call
thom, "claireH," whore they are safe
from storms and predatory animals,
and from moving ice, which some-
times attaches to the oysters and floats
them out TO sea.
The canals are constructed on Broad
water Island, where there is plenty of
marsh land. which at high tide is
nearly covered. In those canals or
parks the oysters fatten rapidly ON the
foud supplied by the mucky deposits.
and they are much more easily handled
and selected for sale than by the former
methods, where they are grown in open
bays. A uniformity of product is So
cured, and the destructive raking over
OF the beds is avoided.
An important point in this con-
nection is the possibility of trans
mitting disease by oysters raised whore
deposits of city sewage are made. Such
case was authenticated few months
ago. and, although few such beds are
liable to receive sewage deposits, it is
a danger to guard against. The sue
cess financially of such company
will, of course, result in other organi-
buttons for the same purpose. 1t ia
stated that the proximity of the plant
ing grounds to the seed reefs and the
greater convenience in handling will
reduce the cost of fine oysters while
supplying much better grade.