Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-11-27
CHANP|ONED
Department of Agriculture Says
There is Much Nutriment
in a Quart
NcLE SAM INVESTIGATES
Government Experts Put on Trial of
Bivalves Reveal Some Interesting
Facts Regarding QuaIities-F attenins
Improves FIavorins--Contain Much
Nourishment.

Washington, Nov. 27-The oyster has
had to take lot Of abuse Of late. Peo-
pie have declared that it was unpar-
donably shy on nutritive value; that 1t
was just as unpardonably long on
germs, and that when greenish in its
cast of countenance it had more cop
per on board than will ever be dug out
Of some of the mines whose stock has
been floated in the last few years.
Under all this contumely the oyster
has persevered in it's traditional policy
OF shutting up. Consequently those
who love it will welcome the news that
champion Of the oyster has appeared
in no less a person than Uncle Sam
himself.
Thru the agricultural department the
government has gone into the oyster
question with thoroughness. The result
is rehabilitated bivalve.
A quart of oysters contains about
the same quantity of nutritive sub
stance as quart Of milk, three-fourths
Of pound Of beef, two pounds OF
fresh Goldfish or one pound of bread.
That puts Mr.. Blue Point, Miss Cotuit
and their relatives into pretty COM
pany. In fact, at a. time when the
doctors are almost unanimous in
preaching the milk gospel, the follow
inc OF n 90 nf
nobility:
"Oysters come nearer to milk than
almost any other common food mater
ial as regards both the amounts and
the relative proportions of nutrients
This is praise, indeed, tho it is some
what dimmed when one pauses to
compare the price of quart Of oys-
tiers and that of a quart Of milk. If
the latter continues to climb the two
may be on a par some time; but at
present, If one is merely looking for
nutrients, it must be admitted that
they come high when done up in oys-
terS.
1t is a common practice among
dealers to place the oysters for per-
haps forty-eight hours in fresh or
VI uSA4Su WdlSAS III OAuCA " AalsSA
them. The operation is also called
floating or laying out.
The dealers believe that the oysters
really gain in flesh and fat, as they do
actually gain in weight and bulk; but
1t has been proved that the gain is due
to the loss from the flesh of the salts
contained there, their place being TAX
en- by q larger quantity of the fresher
water in which the oyster has been
placed.
Flavor is Improved.
There is some loss Of nutritive mat
ter invovled in this process, but the
improvement in flavor is thought to
make up for that. Oysters that have
been foated are commonly thought to
keep better, but official experimenters
assert the contrary. They say that the
life Of a freshened oyster is cut down
one-half.
AS to the greening Of oysters it is
quite commonly due, in American oys-
tiers at least, to the fact that they have
fed on green water plants and the COL
oring matter of the plant has been
taken up by the oyster juices. This
color is said to be harmless. 1t may
be removed by placing the live oysters
for time in water where the green
plants are not abundant.
In Europe similar green oysters,
called greenbarden, or Marennes, are
especially priced, and to meet the de-
mand oysters are greened by placing
them as soon as captured in sea water,
where they are kept for months and
fed on a species of seaweed which
imparts the coloring matter to the
gills.
From carefully conducted investiga-
tions it appears that in some cases
green oysters owe their color to the
presence Of copper. Such oysters are
not generally considered desirable as
food.
Regarding Their Color.
Green oysters containing copper
differ in appearance from those owing
their green tint to vegetable coloring
matter, being grass green and not dark
green in color and having. a verdigris
like Shiny secretion on the folds of the
mantle. 1t is said that after the adj
dition Of vinegar steel fork stuck into
SUCH oysters becomes coated with
copper, and that if ammonia is added
the oysters become dark blue
The flavor of oysters is affected more
or less by the locality in which they
have grown, those from certain re-
gions being regarded as Of very SUI
perior quality. The season of the year
affects the market value of oysters,
altho it is noticeable that as methods
Of transportation and preservation
improve, the oyster season becomes
longer. This may also be said of lob
sters, crabs, etc.
Oysters rapidly deteriorate when re-
moved from water, thru the fermen-
tative action Of bacteria; and oysters
in spawn deteriorate more rapidly
than at any other season at the same
However, oysters which
are ready TO spawn are considered es-
pecially palatable if cooked soon after
from tho sea he'd