The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-12
MOBILE OYSTER REEF
 GREATEST IN THE WORLD
Seemingly It is Inexhaustible, as for Years It Has Paid Its Large Tribute to the
 Gatherers of the Bivalve.

or SelnSnneSs in it.. He was not boom no more interest in 1t than any other oyster shipping firm. The reef in ques- 1 tion Is free and anybody can go there | and gather from 1t.
 This reef is, in truth, the basis of Mobiles immense oyster business. It | is the storehouse upon which the vari- GUS oyster industries make their de-
 mand, and no call is ever refused or dfshonored. It is not to be supposed | that this reef is the only portion of Mobile Bay which produces oysters. There IS scarcely foot of ground in Mobile Bay which will not multiply and produce oysters. It is located between
 Alabama Port and Coden, north of Dauphin Island.
 | The water and the climate of the bay
 is especially adapted to the growing of oysters. In the thousands of miles of coast of the United States there Is not a bay or stretch of beach that will grow oysters like this bay of the State of Alabama.
 ITO successfully grow oysters" said
 Mir. Lyons. the, water must be both l fresh and salt. Where there is the re- quired mixture of salt and fresh water | the. oysters thrive and multiply. l doubt that there is a combination of conditions so favorable anywhere in the United States as right acre in Mobile Bay The water Is just right, the soil is just right and the climate could not be improved"
 The claim of this remarkable reef lAIong the west shore to greatness is found in the fact that Is naturally rich lin oysters. They do not have to be cultivated or cared for on this reef. In most of the other bays and coves along the big bay they are planted. The , planted oysters are of course the most valuable oysters of commerce. But the selects" and "piants' which are held in such high esteem in all south ern scities came originally from this natural reef They or their ancestors were taken from the reef and planted
 in favorable and congenia1 surround.
 ings. The spawn or spats of the oys- ters were taken from the reef and car
 ried away to be put down in other
 places not so crowded where they may
 grow richer and more succulent.
 There are probably twenty-five diff
 ferent oysters sold in the markets of
 the United States. These oysters in
 the main take their name from some
 locality with which they are Identified.
 There Is for instance the famous Blue
 Point oyster which is held to be great delicacy in New York. It's name
 comes from Blue Point on Long Island
 where these oysters were first found and where they continue to be grown.
 The Saddle Rock oyster supposed to be
 the best oyster on the market and
 which brings an even higher price in
 New York thanSthe Blue Point gets it's
 name in like manner from the big rock where these oysters thrive best.
 The distinctive oyster of the South
 is the ''reefer." It is found along the
 Gulf of Mexico from Mobile to Calves ion. The "reefer" has always been
 identified with the southern coast of
 Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. The
 name is applied to them because they
 live naturally upon these reefs. They
 are multitudinous these oysters and
 thickly encrusted. one upon the other
 on their native reefs. There are
 smaller reefs of these oysters along
 Mobile Bay and west of Grants Pass,
 to the southermost extremity of Mobile County. But there are no other reefs
 like this reef. north of Dauphin Island and South of Alabama Port.
 Heron Bay and Bon Secour Bay are
 famous garden spots for oysters. Their
 products were brought originally from
 the reef and planted as spawns or spats. It is in these and surrounding
 bays and coves that the big oyster
 firms and companies gather their choice
 stock. The bulk of the commercial
 oysters is of course taken from the
 reef. A heavy percentage of the bar
 rels that are shipped from Mobile to ''reefers."
 The "selects" and the plants" are
 however, gathered from these oyster
 gardens. A plant is an oyster that has reached its full stature. It is an oyster which. when taken from the water is full grown and ready for the A SeleCL Is tranSplan ted or garden grown oyster which is taken from the brachish water of Mobile Bay before 1t is fully grown 'or in other
 words 1t is pulled before it is ripe,T' The transplanted or cultivated oyster attain a much larger growth than l those which are left upon the studded and encrusted reef
 T am more or less familiar with the oyster business in the North and East" continued Mir Lyons in n,y interview 1 I ET s, reef or place, near Baltimore, Lynn Ha- ven, or New York which approaches in riches thls natural reef of ours. There has been no dredging to protect 1t and | for over half a century all, who cared to do so could go there and gather all | the oysters they wanted for their own use or for shipment"
 Mobile ships out between 400 and 500 barrels of oysters day during the sea- | son, most of them coming from this | reef or it's immediate vicinity. The out
 put varies, being larger in the few weeks preceding Christmas than at any other time. Our season for oysters you
 know, Is from September Is to April | 15,"
 ''The breeding season or the season
 in which 3pats are gathered, Is compos- ed of the months of May and June In these months and the months immedi-
 ately following, no oysters are gath
 cred" "The oysterN business of Mobile amounts to more than $100,000 year. It Is constantly growing and it's possi- blittes cannot be estimated. The busi-
 ness of Mobile draws rich tribute from the oyster fields of Mobile Bay The | fish business, however, bmeans more in dollars and cents than the oyster bust
 ness. You see in the fish business we have season from years end to years end, And Mobile Bay and the neigh borhood of Mobile Bay on the Gulf of
 Mexico are just as remarkable for their richness in fish as they are for their richness in oysters. But you are look
 ing for facts about our Mobile oysters
 and noC for facts about our red snap
 pers and the mullet"
 The firms which are dealing in oys-
 ters. that Is, getting them from the
 beds and reefs and selling them fin the
 local market or shipping them to other
 towns and cities are the Mobile Fish and oyster Company, the Southern Fish and Oyster Company John Barbith, John Gonzales Fish and Oyster Compa- ny, F. Kuppersmith. Alabama Oyster Company, the Bayou Le Batre Canning Company. at Bayou Le Batre. and the John Boyle Canning Company, at All abama Port.
 ''Ine oysters are gathered by oyster men who make a business of fishing them from the shallow bottom of Mo