The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1909-10-07
Southern
Oyster Fields
Description of Oyster Fishing Near
New Orleans as Experienced
by Local Resident.
Paper Read Before the Chautauq,.a Circle.


About seventyfive miles southeast of
New Orleans is group of low, marshy
islands, covering several hundred
square miles of area, appropriately
called the Grand Marsh and noted as a
breeding ground, or rather water, of
oysters and mosquitoes, the former
rivaling the famous beds of the Chesa-
peake while the latter are said to be
equal to those of Alaska. The surface
of tie islands is barely clear Of the wa
ter at high tide. In fact, heavy South
easter will cover them, when it is get
out for the fishing boats working in the
channels. The only vegetation is
growth of coarse reeds growing four to
six feet high and affordlng shelter and
nesting place for countless sea fowl,
from the lordly frigate bird, or man-of-
war hawk, to the tiny terms and petrals.
But it is for the quality and quantity
of its oysters that the Marsh is noted.
The whole region is crisscrossed in
every direction with a network of chan
nels, of all widths and depths, and in
these are the beds where breed and
thrive the toothsOme bivalves in end
less profusion and variety. Upon the
variety will depend the demand and
consequent market. And hard task
it is to put one class of oysters on
market that demands another.
The bottom of the channel varies
from nearly pure white sand to blue
black mud, with all possible mixtures
and blends on which depend the varia-
tion, though the rule does not hold, as
one locality may produce marketable
oyster while a similar locality, not forty
rods distant, with Identical bottom,
will produce an oyster with very little
market value. The value depends prin-
cipally on the shape of the shell. The
finest are nearly round in outline with
a thickness of about twothirds the di-
ameter. These are generally single, as
opposed to the clustering in bunches of
some kinds and command top price
in the markets. Next comes the ordi-
nary form-oblong-nearly as deep as
wide and about twice as long.
The two main trash oysters are the
flats and the knife blades. The for
mer is too thin and fiat to have any
body-the latter, as its name implies
| NIT ho rf IF Hnifo hoo the
width of one and the same thickness
a body like shoestring. These are
the main kinds and the mixture OF
fresh water from Lake Pontchartrair
with the water of the Gulf makes this
an ideal ground, as the food is bought
direct and osmosis has number one
chance to fatten then. 1t is an ode
thing that oysters taken when the tide
is in, and consequently bitter with salt
if placed in fresh or brackish water
will plump up as they absorb the fresf
water much faster than they give ou
the salt water. This fact is taken ad
vantage of by the buyers who, if the!
get hold of lot of thin oysters, will
proceed to fatten them before opening
This fact has its disadvantages. Ii
March, 1897, the Mississippi Rive
burst it's levees above New Orleans ant
went to the Gulf through Lake Pont
chartrain, pouring flood of fresh wa
ter down on the beds of the Marsh tina
killed most of them and threw the in
dustry back until q new crop coul
grow. The female oyster throws ou
countless millions of spawn, general
in May and June. they are SO smal
that they can be told only by the milk
appearance Of the water. The oyster
fall off in flavor during this season, thi
is why they are said to be unhealth
, during certain months. Very few Q
the spawn ever get chance for lift
Unless they strike hard substance t
adhere to they will be smothered in th
mud or destroyed by the countless low
er forms of life injecting these waters