The sun., 1908-12-27
bay FULL OF OYSTER FARMS
81 AND SO AN ACRE FOR LAND
30 FEET UNDER W4TER.
rs 200 Acres Of Narrasansett Hay Thus
Reuted Out-F1ghtIng the starHsh,
the Pstate Buk OF the Oyster Farm
--ProyideRee's Oyster Appetite.

-FroSiuenee's Oyster Appetite.
To all intsnts and purposes Nara
gansett Bay Is one huge oyster farm,
more than $4,000 acres OF It's waters
being under cultivation. 1t is hard TO
realize that from twenty to fifty feet
under the surface there are laid out in
mechanical regularity farms as large as
any Of those on shore.
A Rhode Island oyster farm ranges in
size from those OF two or three acres
to others Of many hundreds. These
farms OF the sea are widely different
from those on shore. for while the latter
are cirotimscribed as o rule by their own
boundaries the fields of the former are
widely scattered. some of them being more
than twenty miles apart.
This is due to the fact that the oyster
man cannot, as does the farmer on shore.
purchase his land outright. but must
lease it from the State for a period of
ten years only. and when he desires to
add to his holdings must make application
to the State.
His application is granted only after it
has been duly advertised to give any one
who wishes he opportunity OF opposing
It. The oyster farmer pays the State an
for his ground-more than 100000. This
is more than any other State derives
from its oyster business.
The present great planting industry
had for its nucleus the transplantine
about seventy-fve years ago OF a number
of shiploads OF Virginia oysters. These
were placed in the Providence River.
At that time the oyster industry OF
the State was confined in great part to
the city OF Providence. practically all the
oyster beds being located within what
are now the city limits. One OF the
tongers' favorite spots was the site OF the
present railroad station.
As the years went by the industry
gradually developed, having each year a
little more value to the State and little
more profit to those engaged IN it. But
even twenty years ago. according to a
writer in the National MdgdsiNs. the
methods employed we're very different
from those OF to-day.
Where now 100 steam and gasolene
boats are continually engaged then less
than dozen vessels Of any size graced
the waters of the bay and practically all
the oysters grown in the State were
brought in from other localities, chiefly
from Connecticut and Virginia,
The Virginia oysters even would not
acclimate, consequently they could be
left in 'he water for only a few months at
most. it being necessary to take them up
again before winter had thoroughly set
in. In 1890 new day dawned for the
Rhode Island oyster industry. There had
been a successful set on ground that was
natural bed in the Warren River. prov
ing conclusively that the waters Of Narra-
gansett Bay, contrary to general belief,
we're well adapted TO the artificial propa-
cation of the oyster.
A great revival OF the industry followed,
and naturally; but then new danger
threatened.
The starfish. ever an interminable cause
Of worry to the Northern oysterman.
appeared to take on a new lease of life
and with such terrible effect that many
oystermen who had outlived competition
and high priced seed became discouraged.
There appeared to be no way whatever Of
dealing with 1t.
True, the oysterman could dredge his
grounds again and again, but often with
more damage to his oysters than to
the stars; and the irony Of it was that
the oysterman knew not the hour Of its
coming. for the starfish is the potato bug
OF the oyster farm-one day an oysterman
may dredge his beds and find no stars,
the next his oysters may be fattening an
army of them.
AfeW years ago a certain oysterman had
been testing one of his beds for signs of
starfish. He worked all day and caught