The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1898-05-20
The Oyster Industry Of Oyster Bay
Is Americas Greatest Medicine. All druggists

The oyster industry is one that is
becoming larger and of more value 20
the people of Western Washington
every wear, as the acreage is increased
each wear, bat the business is still in
its infancy. There are thousands of
acres of tide land on Puget Sound
capable of producing oysters by dix
ing. The name Olympia oysters is no
longer appropos As most of Our oysters
come from Mason County and the
Shoalwater Bay district. There is
such demand for Olympia <Oyster
Bay) oysters that the oysters are not
allowed to get their growth, but are
most all shipped before they are two
years old.
The worst enemy the oysters have
on Oyster bay is big black duck,
called the c0ot. Thev arrive early IN
the fall and don't leave till spring.
They cover the water surrounding the
oyster beds and dive and feed on the
young oysters all day long, all winter,
the bay in some places being black
with them. They are protected by
the smart game-law, part of the legis-
lation Of the last legislature. How
they can be classed as game l know
not. The feathers cannot be taken
from them in the ordinary way. They
have to be Skinned. Then you come
to meat as black as charcoal and as
tough as rubber. The next enemy the
oysters have is called the periwinkle.
1t will balance itself on an oyster and
twirl rapidly around, drilling small
hole, then sucking the meat from the
shell. The periwinkle is an exact copy
OF Il small boys spinning top. 1t is a
shellfish. Next comes the starfish.
They TO all appearance cannot travel,
but old oystermen smile when this
subject is mentioned. One incident
will suffice to show that. A newly
arrived farmer got boat Loaf of star
fish for enriching his land. Taking
them up the bay few miles he Dump
ed them on the beach. That was in
the evening. Next morning he came
with his cart to carry them off but
they had saved him the trouble. They
had carried themselves off; in fact
they we're spread over half a dozen
oyster claims, making for deep water.
Alter years of labor the oyster men
OF Oyster bay are rarely bothered with
starfish. Their determination was &C
complished by keeping them from the
lower beds, proven ting them from get
ting up the bay ON the main beds. A
starflsh can be torn IN seven or eight
pieces and cast back in the water, and
each piece will become a separate star
fish. The surest way to kill them is
to cast them on the beach above high
water as they cannot travel excepting
in the water and they soon die.
The next drawback to the oyster
bees is the hot sun in summer time
and a trerze-up in winter. The hot
sun killing the young spat in The ex-
posed places and Il heavy freeze killing
all, both old and young. However,
these big freeze-ups do not come very
often, thanks to our moderate climate,
but when they do come the loss is
heavy. During freeze-up in '93
there vas ~ less than $4,000 worth
OF @ Sicrs il ating around Oyster bay,
the shells having opened, allowing the
oysters 10 i!oat off. They could be
scooped up " the bushel on tie in
coming III IS and yet the '93 freeze
was not th worst by far that the
oystermen Lave encountered in years
gone by In the early eighties there
was fir, exc that almost extermlnated
the oysters altogether. Previous to
the freeze they we're selling for $3.50
per sack After the freeze 81 was
freely offered per sack and the buyers
got but few at that price. 1t took
years to &c, the beds back to their old
standing.
Years ago in Olympia harbor there
were fine oyster beds. They belonged
to the people at large. If anyone was
wanting mess of bivalves he would
go and gather them for the festive
board, often inviting some visiting
stranger friend to partake of these
dellcacies. In this Way the fame and
quality OF the Olympia oyster became
known to the world at large. After a
time they were shipped to San Fran
cisco but at first there was not much
demand for them. But the progress
sive Olympian soon caused demand
for Olympia oysters. He hired men
to go into the restaurants and call for
Olympia oysters. II he got them, well