The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1897-01-29
hAe Popular Oyster.

OiJ AHpia oay oysters are gottlng
smaller, or rather they are not getting
chance to grow larger. 1t is the
price of popularity They are so
much In demand that oyster dealers
place them on the market before they
have matured. What the public re-
ceives when it calls for an "Olympia
stew" is really @ mess Of "yearlings
and two-years-olds," gathered before
the full vigor of three years develop
ment. This condition bids fair to
operate against the demand for Olym-
plas and is the cause of an incipient
boom in Shoalwater bay oysters. The
following article, calculated to stimu-
late demand for the Shoalwater bay
product, appeared in recent issue of
the OregOnian:
''For long time the greater part of
the native oysters for the supply Of
this city has come from Olympia and
other places about the head of Puget
sound, all under the name of Olympia
oysters. Now dealers are handling
Shoalwater bay oysters almost exclu-
sively. The cause of this is that the
beds on the Sound have been drawn
on too extensively, and have been
culled too close, until there is nothing
left but small oysters; that is, oysters
which have not attained their full
growth, they are small enough when
they have. There is considerable
difference between the Olympia and
Shoalwater bay oyster, but which is
the best is a matter of individual
taste. The Shoalwater bay oysters
are in demand in San francisco, and
of late nearly all of them have been
shipped there and people here have
become so accustomed to the Olympia
oyster that most of them perfer it The
Olympias are even smaller than the
Shoalwaters, but are plumper, and
have black stripe around them. This
is caused it is said, by the oysters
being grown on bottom of mud or
clay. The Shoalwater are grown on
sandy bottom, and have no black
stripe, are not so plump, and by some
are claimed to have better flavor.
The appearance or flavor probably
had little to do with the source from
which the supply of this city was
drawn. San Francisco had the call on
the ShOalwaters, and so Portland took
the Olympus, which were more con-
venient to get. Now Portland will
have to depend on Shoalwater bay
oysters, at least for some time, till the
Olymplas have a chance to get their
growth, and it is>to be feared the price
will be higher, or the plate smaller.
It is said that half sack or even less.
passes in San Francisco for sack.
The coast of Oregon has only two bays
where oysters grew naturally, Yaquina
and Netars bay, and the beds are
limited at both places. The Eastern
oysters lately planted at Yaquina are
reported to be doing WE'LL but it will
be some time before they Will be In
the market, and the supply must
always be limited, owing to the small
area. 1t looks as if the supply OF ma
tive oysters on this Coast was liable to
be soon exhausted, and steps should
be taken to increase the area of the
beds, and to introduce Eastern oys-
ters at other points"
This is very we'll from Shoalwater
bay point of view, but friends OF the
Olympia bivalve take different view.
J. B. Bowman has been in the oyster
business in this city for six years.
When he first opened up not sack OF
oysters had been shipped to Portland
for three or four years. Since that
time oysters have been shipped there
right along.
"San Francisco gets all the Al Shoal-
water bay oysters" said Mr.. Bowman
one day last week. "The M. b.
Monaghan Oyster Company, having
headquarters in San Francisco, owns
800 or 400 acres of beds at Shoalwater,
and really CONTROLS the business, The
company bought out the smaller own
ers at any price they were pleased to
ask. Since the freeze OF four years
ago the beds i'll Oyster bay, Olympia,
have not had chance to recover and
get back to their former standing.
There was no spawn the first year
after the freeze. Last year was good
one. The Olympias are smaller, be-
cause people are working yearlings
and 2-year-oids, when they should wait
another year. AS for quantity, / have
noticed no difference. If anything,
there is an increase in the product.
The Olympia is a darker oyster. Inc
shoalwaters bleach in water and do
not keep so well. The shell OF the
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