The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-01-12

termen use a small sail boat about fif- teen feet long and each boat has q crew of two or three men. These men gather the oysters with a sort of tongs. barrels of oysters a day. The oysters are loaded In sail boats and brought to Mobile where they are sold to dealers at from $1.00 to $1.25 barrel
 The plants" and selects" are grown in the waters at and around Heron Bay and Secour Bay. Golden and Bayou La Batre. They are planted and grown as you would plant and grow Irish potatoes in s 2 garden: s,,.,ns Several ot Of the plant great quantities of oysters each year. My company. for instance. the Mobile Fish and Oyster Company plants annually 10000 barrels a year. from trespassers. From this free reef we h.ye been talking about the law provides that no oyster less than two and half inches long shall be taken selects may be taken from the oys- ter gardens when they are two years old--they do not reach full maturity for three years.
 ''This in fact continued Mir, Lyons, shows the great superiority of Mobile Bay In producing oysters over any oth . CT bay or any other section of which I know of. Along the northern and eastern coast 1t takes an oyster at
 
 the male or female reaches full growth within three years"
 The cove or canned oyster of Mobile Bay is sold in nearly every southern do not. however. bear label which truthfully reveals their birth and an- cestry. The canned oysters bear a Maryland trade mark, for the canned than the canned Alabama oyster but it Is not a whit better. In fact if there is any advantage the Alabama oyster has it.
 quantities of oysters. The one at Bayou Le Batre requires 500 barrels day, and the new factory at Alabama Port each day calls for 400 or 500 barrels of oys- ters. These oysters are gathered in small sail boats. almost within the shadow of the oyster factories. They are carried to the factories and turned over to the Bohemian laborers who do the work In the factories. There are 800 of these Bohemfans at Bayou Le Batre and 200 at Alabama Port, men, women and children. The Bohemians are brought down from Baltimore and it's vicinity by the factory owners and returned to their homes when the sea- son is ended.
 At the factories the oysters are load cd into iatticed iron baskets. These baskets are rolled into large ovens. where the oysters are thoroughly baked. I0ey arc lnctls estSilf Opcncu Uy lut Do-. hemians and thrown into large vat where they are washed and prepared for the cans. The cans are filled by young Bohemian women, after which they are soldered by two sturdy ex- perts fin that business. The cans are then boxed up and sent to various towns and crossroad stores to delight Southern palates as Baltimore or Nary land cove oysters,
 For the item of oysters alone Ala bama Is under a lasting debt of grat- itude to Mobile Bay. For the bay gives to the people of the State a tempting succulent oyster at a cheaper price than any other State has to pay. The oyster has come to play an important part in the culinary affairs of Alabama. No Thanksgiving Day dinner, no Christ mas Day dinner, lis complete without tho agreeable and delightful oyster, and on all other special occasions 1t has the place of honor upon the menu. The tired office worker, the tired clerk or the tired business man who carries home three or four times week a paste- board box filled with oysters for his re- freshment and pleasure, should pay the tribute of a thought to the greatness of Mobile Bay.
 An interesting pamphlet, on the Mo- bile oyster, predicting It's future great ness, was written by the late Col Paul Ravesies of Mobile, under the title, The Mobile Oyster and Its Destiny" It is rare little book now, and I failed to find copy In three large libraries of Mobile, but came across it in the great collection of the State Department of Archives and History at the Capitol.