Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1904-02-10
STORY OF AN OYSTER
TOLD By HIMSELF Asour HIMSELF
AND MS rR;SE.

The Trials and Tribulstions OF the
OF Planting Vntn IFS Appearance
ON the FishmonEer's Counter.
There were about 100000 OF us when,
as tiny fakes or spawn-or .'spat," as
the oyster spawn is called-we tioated
out into the water one day on 1.-THE
flats"
At hrst we were white and apparent
" hfeleSS. Then we turned gray and
finally black. At this stage we became
Nisibly alive. For several DAYS we
noatcd. the sport OF waves and tides.
Some OF my brothers We're carried out
TO sea and SO vanished; others were
swallowed by fish. AZ last we all be-
gan instinct;vely TO sink toward the
bottom.
Then began again terrible dastruc-
ton. Many fell on mud-the most IA
tai thing young oyster can do, These
persisted az once. Others attached
themselves TO plants and weeds which
grow at the bottom of the sea. They
lived for time-sO long at least as the
plant remained alive. Then. when the
plant died. they persisted rs well.
Fortunately FOR myself. 1 drifted on
10 bit OF ''cultch"-that is to say. one
OF the old shells which the slredgers
and oyster men 50 carefully scatter all
over the sea door OF an oyster bed I
settled with my deep shell uppermost
and my fiat or right shell nearer the
ground. At the time did not know
why did this. I have since realized
that IL was because I'm that position I
should be moro easily able to eject the
sand and grit which rough sea some
times stirs up in shallow water. 1 at
tached myself firmly to my anchorage
OF 'cultch' and felt myself at last fair
Is started In life
Soon noticed that every single NOR.
sci OF shell or stone around me was
tenantcd by tiny oysters, all lying in
the same position as myself and all
firmly anchored.
There l lay. unmoving. for nearly n
year. Food. in the shape of tiny ami
malcul@, which an oyster loves best.
was plentiful. When the water was
thick with it. we all opened our shells
wide, and, making currents in the wa
ter by means OF the tiny hairs which
fringe our gils and which men call our
boards we washed the dainties into
our mouths. Our choicest delicacies
were the minute green algsc. which
give TO full grown oysters that greenish
tinge that is the mark of the aristo-
cratic native.
When first anchored myself, / was
but the twentieth of an inch in diane
ter-so small. indeed, that a microscope
would have been necessary TO examine
me- At that stage my shell was per-
fectly transparent
At the end Of ten months had in
creased In diameter 10 fully the size
Of n dime and become what is called
brood"
During all this time had been learn
ing many things. I found out that II
was necessary 20 close my shell tight
when dangers OF various kinds threat
encd. when the tide was low or. I'm win
ter. when frost was severe. You may
perhaps imagine that an oyster is a
creature OF such low organism that il
cannot see or feel much OF what is go
ing on round about IT, But you are
wrong. The mantle fringe OF an oyster
is very sensitive. If you watched us
from n boat in calm water, you would
see that the mere shadow Of the boat
crossing an oyster bed will cause those
OF Us upon whom &c falls 10 close our
shells Immediately.
II was necessary 10 be most careful.
Dangers were many and terrible. Sea
urchins prowled among us and de-
voured many. Bnt OF all our foes the
worst is the five fingered starfish. One
OF my sisters, anchored not yard
away. fell a victim 10 this terror OF
the oyster beds. II clutched her with
its long fingers. She closed her shell.
But the creature was not 10 be shalI-
en- or Hour after hour it chung there
until Oh the second day after its first
grip she, poor thing. opened her shell
10 get a mouthful of food. At once the
starfish injected into her fluid which
her So that she could not
close again. Then the monster turned
itself inside out. shot itself into the
open shell and devoured her.
Then, one day n year after l had
noated rs "spat," came n startling
change in my existence. Something
huge and heavy came out of the shad-
ow Of n boat above and approached,
rasping and grating along the bottom.
II was n great triangular dredge Of
wrought iron. At the bottom was a
fiat bar with 4 blunt edge, known to
the dredgers as the ''bit"
As the "bit" approached It scraped
the bottom OF the sea clean, and next
instant l, too, found myself lifted and
dropped into the net, together with
hundreds like myself and n miscel-
laneous collection of small soles and
other things.
One Of the men sorted over the catch
and, having selected all the oysters
and spat, shaded the rest back into
the sea through n portfolio.
/, in company with enormous guam
titles OF other brood, was put into a
"wash"-a measure holding five and a
quarter gallons-and relaid. Here life
was less eventful and food most plen-
tiful. To fatten well an oyster must
have a certain amount Of fresh water.
In this snug retreat ! passed from
brood to half ware and from half ware
TO ware, or full grown oyster. But /
still went on growing and developing.
until one day the dredee sWept mo nm