Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-04
DO OYSTERS GROW ON TREES
The Affirmative si& of Raging Contro-
versy Authrihtively Settled.
Interesting Description of the Poquo-
mock Method ,sEsed In the Oyster
Fisheries rim Connecticut.

Many newspapers recently have been
gravely pointing 1out the absurdfy of q
statement made somewhere by somebody
| that oysters could be5grown successfully or
| trees and, amusing as it may seem, some
writer's have gone to the length Of ex-
haustlVely endeavoring to show the i'm
possibility of such thing. The originator
| OF the discussion who first made the claim
| that oysters do grow on trees probably had
| In mind what Is called the Poquonock
method resorted to in Connecticut to catch
| oyster spat In the very interesting bulle-
tin OF the United States fish commission
entitled Notes on the Oyster Fishery OF
Connecticut" written by ]. w. Collins and
published in 1891, the following appears:
The Poquonock Method.
In the preceding discussions mention has
been made of nearly all the methods re-
sorted to in Connecticut to catch oyster
spat, excepting the brush" or "Poquo-
mock" method. The latter was discovered
by accident, about 1868, on the Poquonock
river, small stream in the town Of Groton
A farmer, after trimming his orchard and
throwing the branches of the trees into the
river, was much surprised, in the succeed
ing autumn, to find the brush covered with
oysters. This suggested the employment
OF the method to others, who used any
cheap brush that was convenient. The
material was usually placed in the water
curing May or June, and the spat secured
in this manner was commonly taken off
and marketed the following winter or at
least before the second winter. The chief
reason for this was that the brush was
generally put down in comparatively shall
low water. about two and a half fathoms
at low tide, and If the young oysters were
allowed to remain on it for two years they
would fall off by their own weight. They
We're also exposed to the danger of being
''winterkilled" during cold weather. be-.
cause OF being SO near the surface They
We're generally large enough to market in
eighteen months or SO, say about the begin
ming of the second winter.
The Poquonock method has been moder-
ately successful, and perhaps Is the best
Tor the locality where it is employed. There
are several reasons why it has not proved
entirely successful; among which may be
mentioned the collection of large quantities
OF eelgrasS about the flats at the mouth OF
the stream, causing stagnation of the wa
ter and producing such conditions that the
board of health of the town has caused the
bushes to be pulled up and destroyed. How
ever, while the bushes could be kept down.
the young oysters have invariably grown
rapidly, probably because the bottom Of the
river is very muddy.
AS an illustration of this method we are
Informed, by one who has had large ex-
perience in the business, that on one occa-
sion the spat obtained on a single bush
produced twelve bushels of oysters This,
however. is seldom equaled. The Connect
cut bureau of labor statistics state that
''one bush bore twenty-five bushels, but the
average yield is about - %. 112). This
statement is thought to be rather large by
those familiar with the subject. The con-
sensus of statement is that this manner of
collecting a set" of oysters Is less profit
able than generally represented, but that
greater success would result if the system
could be tried in a locality where the water
is less sluggish and where there would be
no official interference.
1t will be seen from the above that oys-
ters do grow on trees. Notwithstanding the
denials Of many learned pundits of the
press.