The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1907-07-14


fellows twenty thousand IA the ordi'
nary number into d great square can
yass bag or wooden tub In which tho
water In kept constantly In u cifeu'
lar whirl by u revolving paddle, Food
finely chopped clans, usually IL drop
ped Into tho swirl every three or four
hours, night and day The newborn
lobstera arc greedy little bcggars, and
they will eat each other up II they an
not kept moving and at tho "ame time
furnished plentifnlly with other food
Even In the best regulated breeding bay
moro OF lcaa canpibalism occurs, but not
enough Of II 10 prevent u goodly proper
iloa VI tho Iopvteia surviving TO the agc
proper for liberation I
The suppl, Of larvae comes, Of course
irom full grown egg lob"iers, taken by
fishermen from tho waters Of the bay
All winter long tho female oflstacean
bears. exposed on tho hndcr part Of her
body. great clusters Of cgga 7aitom a,'
900 to 100000 ln number, according TO
her slse, IL June ami July thr~e hatch
out Throughout the spring months the
experiment station At Wexford offers
q premium Ior good ala@i lohsters "lh
berry" A. the technical term Is, The
offerings are usually sufficient for the
purpose IL hand
Expert. can tell by the look Of the
holsters eggs when they are ready to
hatch Into one Of tho rectangular
canvas bags. with the water slIll, are
plunged ecofr or mare Of the lcnialss
v hose hfoods are just about to break
through the shells Of the eggs. Soon the
water is alive with cloud OF tiny lar
vac. mostly all stomach and eyes and>
an,ehnae, AZ aoon ~ the numher ~
estimated to be about 10000 the mother
iobs,crs arp removed aHd the g'Na, pad-
die, set somewhat Ike the ian that
nhoos liies in restaurant, and actuatcd
b, the engines on Ihr house boat, BE-.
gna TO nta,e, From then on until
they have reached what tho natutaliSts
call "the fourth stage" the youthful lob
.tcrs ate literally In the swim. Day and
night the paddle keeps tho water stir
ring, enough coming through the sides
of the bag 80 that II ls always fresh and
pure,
Each stage Of the HOLSTERS raFlg iesel'
opmens has It's technical pcculiaritlea,
Tho mall point Is that tho little erea-
ture. molt frequently un,il. anywhere
from ten to sixteen days after birth.
they have passed the period in which
thry swim hclplrssly about In the water
seeking whom TO lerour OF by waom
10 be drsuurrl. and have reached the
ngc lu which they Begin to hide from
their foes by burrowlng under rocks or
roots Arrived a, tho fourth stage they
are 80 far able 10 take care Of them.
selves that /, Is tho custom Of the
Wexford station TO release them then,
though IA a demonstration they have
on several occasions been carried sev.
rral stages further, In orlcr to add TO
the effectiveness Of the system the
young lohstcrs, whom introduced from ar
tihcial to natural conditions are not
simply dumped overheard. thus 10 at
tract n school Of yoraeious ilah. They
ara taken by the assistant scientists
from tho university aud are deposited, A
few ut time, among the roots oi scdge
grasa or along pebbly beach
The mothers. too, afe allowed 10 90
after the eggs are all hatchch, but not
! without taking souvenir from the
station To tho back Of each IL at.
tached copper bag bearing number
and the words Return to Rhode Island
, Fish Commission Such practice has
: not arisen from boylsh prank playing,
) Many Of the tags are returned by Ash-
, enncn and data are thus gathered as to
: the distances which full grown HOLSTERS