Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1904-03-18

unaiiy black At this stage we became
vfsibly alive For several DAYS We
Heated. the sport OF waves and tides
Some OF my brothers were carried on,
TO sea and so vanished;' others were
swallowed by fish. At last we all be
gan instinctively to sink toward the
bottom.
Then began again terrible destruc.
Ton Many fell on mud-the most IN
tai thing a young oyster can do. These
persisted ut once. Others attached
themselves to plants and weeds which
grow a the bottom OF the sea. They
lived for time-so long at least ms the
Plant remained alive. Then, when the
plant died. they persisted as well.
fortunately for myself, 1 drifted on
10 bit OF "cultch'-that is to say. one
or the old shells which the dredgers
and oyster men so carefully scatter ali
over the sea floor OF an oyster bed.
settled with my deep shell uppermost
and my fiat or right shell nearer the
ground At the time I did nd< know
why l did this. have since realized
that 1t was because In that position |
should be more easily able to eject the
sand and grit which q rough sea some
Tunes stirs up I'm shallow water. / Mt
tached myself firmly to my anchora ge
or "cultch" and felt myself at last fair.
ly started in life
Soon 1 noticed that every single NOR.
sci OF shell or stone around me was
tenanted by tiny oysters, ali lying In
the same position as myself and all
firmly anchored.
There l lay, unmoving, for nearly a
year. Food, in the shape of tiny ami.
malcule. 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 gills and which men call our
boards, we washed the dainties into
our mouths. Our choicest delicacies
were the minute green aIgm. which
give to full grown oysters that greenish
tinge that Is the mark of the aristo-
cratic native.
When l first anchored myself. was
but the twentieth OF an inch I'm diane
ter-so small. indeed. that n microscope
would have been necessary 70 examine
me. At that stage my shell was per-
fectly transparent
At the end OF ten months | had in
creased In diameter TO fully the size
OF dime and become what is called
brood"
During all this time had been learn.
Ing many things. / found out that II
was necessary to close my she'll tight
when dangers of various kinds threat
ened. when the tide was low or. In 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 60
Ing on round about IT, But you are
wrong. The mantle fringe OF an oyster
Is very sensitive. II you watched us
from 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 IL falls to close our
shells Immediately.
Ii was necessary TO be most careful
Dangers were many and terrible Sel
urchins provided among us and dc.
vourcd many. But of all our foes the
worst is the five fingered starlish. One
of my sisters. anchored not Il yard
awaN fell II victim TO this terror of
the oyster beds. 1t clutchcd her with
its long fingers. She closed her shell.
But the creature was not 10 be shak.
en- or. Hour after hour II chung there
until on the second day after lis first
grip she. poor thing. opened her sAel.
10 get mouthfUl OF food. At once tie
starfish injected into her n fluid which
siupened her so that she could not
close again. Then the monster turned
Itself inside out. shot itself into the
open shell and devourod her
Then. one day year after ha,'
floated as "spa;." me Il s:ariln.
change in my e.. 1872. Sepr.hine
huge aud heavy came OF, OF liz Shud-
ow OF boat above AMI approached
rasping and grating a,nl- til b tom
1t was n great tr.an2u.s- G.rdSr %
wrought iron. ~ the bAC.c.si WAS
fat bar with blunt edge. .noWn
the dredgers as the "bit'
As the BIZ approached II scrapcd
the bottom of the sea clean. aai mex
instant /. too. found myself lifted am
dropped into the net. together Will
hundreds like myself and m:Scel
laneous collection of small solcs AMI
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 portfolio.
/, In company with enormous guam
titles of other brood. was put into
''wash"-a measure holding five anu n
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 l 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 dredge swept me up
again. and / was raised once more into
the upper afr and rapidly brought in.
was then dropped into large bag
and suspended I'm tank of fresh sea
water which IS constantly reneved