The Washington herald., 1908-06-14
By RUDOLPR DE zAPP.

N@aNHA
make the oyster the CONNIE Il faut deli
cacy OF the season
The oyster. like every other useful and
profitable product OF animal or plant life,
during its propogating season requires
great care and attention in order 10 pro-
duce a crop that is up 10 standard. not
only so far as its flavor, size. and shape
are concerned. but also to make It a pay
Ing investment and enterprise.
All summer long those interested in
the various oyster-growlng bays are
engaged in digging seed oysters. TO sell
them to oysters growers. They rake and
drag the bottoms OF the bays. bringing
10 the surface the little oysters that are
TO be transplanted In beds until they haye
gained in flavor and in weight and are
ready for the market.
Oyster Industry Immense.
Oyster fisheries have grown in recent
years to an extent that makes them a
most important industry upon which thou
sands depend. Fisheries exist in nearly
every coaStwise state. from Texas 10
Massachusetts. and In the maritime prov
inces. Even to the western coast Of
North America the industry has penetrat-
ed. thanks 70 the United States Fish
Commission. for Atlantic Ocean-grOwn
oysters have been taken there. and are
still being transplanted from the East
across the continent 10 California. Oregon.
and Washington. From the seed oysters
caught In Newark Bay come the oysters
which later tickle the palate Of the old
forty-niner.
The oyster spawning season differs with
O 10 nj Il
so many conditions that the process may
De said TO go on continually. As a rule,
The parent oyster "ripens" 20 the spawn
Ing point much earlier in the South than
IN the North, and II natures more quick
~ In shallow than IN deeper water. So.
too the age az which an oyster may
Flpen so as 10 reproduce its species varies
with the locality. In regions where the
oyster Is subject 10 conditions OF rapid
growth they spawn within one year, the
number Of eggs depending upon the par
ents size. According 10 one authority.
the oyster produces from 100000 10 Co.
uV0OCO eggs in a year
How Sea Oysters Form.
Notwithstanding the enormous fecund-
ity Of the individual oyster the produc-
tive power Of the beds is not so vast as
might be supposed. So low is the oyster
in the scale Of life that It is impossible to
tell the difference IN the ripe oysters be-
tween those that give forth spawn and
those that produce milt The only way of
distinguishing is a trial OF the spawn OF
the milt This Is done by tests In pure
water. The matter 10 be examined IS
dropped into water. and II it breaks up
into uniformly distributed cloud Il Is
spawn. Milt as K strikes the wafer forms
H-fr- I.fe.- -.
tendency to drift in streaks II the water
be agiiated. To Is through the contact OF
this spawn and the milt that the seed oys-
ter Is first formed
II at the time Of spawning the oysters
are widely scattered. or II the number OF
oysters spawning at the same time Is
limited. most OF the eggs Will remain un-
fertilzed and will float away 10 be lost
The eggs do not live long after they have
been laid, and II the fertilization by con-
tact-the chances OF which are already re-
duced-dOes not come within a very short
time. fertilization is impossible. Nature
must therefore supply n vast number OF
germ cells 20 insure the survival Of but
few
The fertiliZed spawn, now known as
spat as Il sinks attaches itself az once 10
whatever Il can get hold Of at the bottom
of the water, be 1t a stick. a rock, an old
shoe, or any other object with clean
surface. so that the young animal can
retain its hold. AS soon as the spat has
attached Itself It becomes known as fry.
Baby Oyster Not Large.
At the time this attachment takes place
the fry measures about one-nineteenth OF
an inch in diameter. Even at this early
age the little oysters have inclosed them
selves I'm a shell, though these are OF a
horny material, quite different in compost
ton from the shell of the adult The rate
Of growth now depends upon the quantity
OF food. temperature Of the water. and
the time Of the year. In the warm cll-
mate OF South Carolina oysters have at
tained the remarkably quick growth OF
two and half inches In seven months
In our own attitudes on the south shore
Of Long Island. oysters measuring one
and threo-quarter inches in May have
been known 20 attain the remarkable
size Of three inches by November Of the
same year.
The shape OF the oyster Is one Of the
things that determines its market value.
Single oysters OF regular shape with deep
shells indicating plump bodies. will bring
better price than the irregular OF double
oyster. The shape of oysters depends
largely upon how they are crowded during
their growth. The double or duplicate
oyster is another cause Of the overcrowd-
ing Of the young oysters They lie so
close together that they grow into each
other When numerous spat become at
tached TO single piece Of clutch, such
as an oyster shell. there is not enough
room for the development OF all Many
VIII be crowded out and suffocated. while
the survivors will be distorted through
the necessity Of conforming to the irregu-
lar space between the valves Of their fell
lows sometimes the pressure exerted be-
tween the rapidly growing shells is sufi-
clnet 10 break up the more fragile forms
OF clutch, and the separated oysters then
usually improve somewhat in shape.
New Use for Ancestors.
The crowding Of oysters usually reaches
its climax upon the "raccoon" oyster
beds. Raccoon oysters are usually found
where the bottom is soft and where the
only attachment FOR the spat is on the
shells OF It's ancestors. Frequently the
parent oysters are smothered In this way,
while the oysters growing in the over
crowded place are small, thin, and IN ia
vored. Oysters found growing In this er
cessively thick manner are broken apart
and planted. when they rapidly improve
IN quality and appearance. A bottom
composed Of soft mud. into which the
younger oyster would sink and smother.
Is unfavorable 70 the culture or to the de-
velopment Of the natural beds. SO in
these districts hard objects are dlstrib-
uted over the bottom and there become
collectors OF the spat
oysters will grow on muddy bottoms
quicker than elsewhere. as such places
are more productive of food materials
This food is in the form of suspended or
swimming organic particles. The most