Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-01-11
BLUE POINT OYSTERS.

that the field of the Blue Point oyster,
which from early colonial days has
been owned In common by tho town of
Brookhaven, Suffolk county, and the
Robert X. Smith estate, Is to be di
vided. A partition suit has been begun
in the Supreme Court by the Smiths,
and the answer OF the town hns Eeen
served The property In question covers
the greater part Of tho Great South
Bay, and carries with 1t the oyster,
CLANS and fish in tho waters, and also
the hunting privileges. The parti-
ton is due to the fact that The town
and the State do not agree on the terms
of the renewal Of the oystermen 8 leases.
The narrator has heard and read fire.
quent arguments between the two ex-
tremes Of the dogmatio men who have
insisted that there are no longer any
genuine Blue Points; they are ex-
tinot = and the credulous fellow who
believes that every diminutive oyster
placed before him il of this famous
kind, Both of these classes of men are
sadly mistaken. The true Blue Point
still exists--in very limited numbers it
Is true but it is made the subject of
more misrepresentation and more sue.
cessful deception than any other food
product known to mankind. Extrava-
giant as that statement may seem it is
not one jot beyond the truth. Not
only are other bivalves opened in the
ZANE of the Blue Point, but for the
purposes of this masquerade there are
selected what would otherwise be con-
sidered the refuse Of cargo OF oysters
the cullings-or "cullens'' as the
dredger calls them thus by a
strange irony Of commercial chicanery
the cheapest Of all, oysters are placed
before the watering mouths Of mankind
at the highest figure which is placed
upon bivalyes. This deception is
made possible by q popular fallacy of
long standing whereby folks believe
that the Blue Point oyster is the small
est Of his kind. This unaccountable
delusion permits the INSCRIPTIONS
dealer and by dealer is meant the
wholesale seller, for the restsurateur is
frequently hoodwinked as we'll as his
customers to find an exorbitantly re-
munerative sale for the small refuse
oysters which the sorters cast aside in
separating cargo Of oysters into their
various sizes.
1t will surprise nearly every one to
he told that originally the Blue Point
oysters were Of monstrous size, and it
was the empty shell Of one Of these of
natural growth which suggested to the
late George Arnold his delightfully."-
amusing poem of 1.-THE Oyster, !"
which "bivalvular hermit arose upon
its edge and swallowed the good ship
Emily and all its crew. Natural de-
cadence has lessened the size of the
Blue Point, but not to the extent people
have been taught to believe. 1t may not
be generally known that some years ago
Uncle Sam thought this subject was
worth Investigation, and he employed
Ernest lngersoll to perform the task.
The result of his labors is told in one
OF the volumes of the tenth census of
the United States, wherein is published
an exhaustive treatise on 1.-The Oyster
Industry. y Referring to lwhat he
termed the "Brookhapen Bay or Blue
Point OYSTER, he says.
Tho natural growth Of the oyster in
the Great South Bay is confined almost
wholly between Smiths Point and
Fire Island practically to the waters
east Of Blue Point, known as Brook
haven Bay. This was the home of the
famous celebrity, the Blue Pom. oyster,
which was among the earliest to come
to New York markets., The present
oyster of this brand is small and round,
but the old Blue Points, cherished
by the Dutch burghers and peakbatted
sons Of the Hamptons, who toasted the
King long before our revolution was
thought of, was Of the large, crooked,
heapy-shelied, elongated kind, with
which one becomes familiar all along
the coast in examining relics Of the
natural beds, and which are even now
to be found By the thousand In all the
mussul lagoons of the Gulf of ST.
Lawrence. Now and then, n few years
ago, one of these aboriginal oysters, of
which two dozen made q sufficient
armful, was dragged UP and excited
the curiosity OF every one. But the
time has gone by when any more Of
thesa oysters may be expected. "
At the present time the Blue Point
has its ned in more cirpumscribed
limits than Mr. Ingersoll Describes.
First let me explain that, geographic
ally, Blue Point is q small promonotory
of Long Island, reaching into the Great
South Bay. Whether il gets its name
from the famous oyster or whether tho
process of nomenclature has been the
reverse Of that. it is Impossible for the
narrator to say. The under shell of
the oyster in question has number of
small spinouslike protuberances, the
points of which are colored greenish-
blue hue, and from these, many OYSTER
mon declare, the bivalye, and subse-
quently its home, came to be termed
Blue Point Three miles West of Blue
Point is Patohogue, and from thence
along and off the coasrSas far as Oak
daleand short stretch Of sandit is
the true Blue Points can be found.
The beds for that distances are all laid
in the same water and are sowed each
year by Seeding oysters taken directly
off Blue Point itself
There is scarcely O restaurant or
hotel in tho land on whose bills OF fare
tho name does not figure, and in NEST
cases honestly, too-at least SO far as
the intentions Of the proprietors are
concerned. Some may ask, What
difference does it make? is not an
oyster an oyster?" That question would
never Ee asked by one who has had the
rare experience upon the genuine Blue
Point. No other oyster possesses its
substantial plumpness solid fairness
due to its feeding in its natural beds
in the pure waters bf the Great South
Bay. and easily distinguishnbIe from.
the delusivo and havorless white plump.
ness of biyalyes which have been trans
ferred to fresh water to gain in size.
No other oyster has its delicate flavor,
which is such a marked popularity
that it Is noticeable even III a seew-.a
dish of that kind when made from
Blue Points having nothing about it