Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1909-03-12
FISH ANDOYsTERNO NOTES.

Y - lCUS--lS ashore mo-
and dry at Cape Henry.
whale steal, 20 &C nts." That .
new item that is likely to be added 4
the bill OF fare of the cheaper restau
rants in New York.
Goldfish lines are FREQUENTLY s;ah
miles long They have $50 hook
and often land $500 cod. No wonde
the lines cost $4,000 apiece.
Oyster markets have greatly in,
proved in the last few weeks. On Fri
DAY OF last week Chincoteague shippe,
900 barrels of oysters and 46S sacks q
teiams, and on Monday about ao
packages i'm all.-Peninsula Enternr;se
In the telephone hunt for fishing !,
Norway microphone in a watertiob
steel box is lowered into the sea AN,
transmits to the telephone rece;ver !,
the boat whistling sound if berrin,
are about and kind of granting if coo
are near.
A phenomenal run of fish, and strang.
hshes mostly. has struck the New Ter
sey coast. Whether it is due tn IN,
mild winter or some stunt of the Cul,
stream has not been figured out. La,
1t to the latter, as all strange sea thing,
are usually done.
Although shad had been sbinpad from,
this section in small numbers prior to
mat the first big consignment arrived
at baltimore. Md, on March 3. on the
steamer Old Point Comfort from the
western shore of Virginia. 1t was p
large shipment, there being 80 boxes
The roe shad sold for 81. % each and
the buck for about half as much.
A bill was passed by Congress An
thorizing the Secretary of Commerce
and Labor to co-opefate through the
Coast and Geodetic Survey and Bureau
of Fisheries with the Fish COMMISSIONS,
OF North Carolina in making SURVEYS Of
the waters of North Carolina where
fishing is prohibited by law. The bill
Is designed to preserve and increase the
shad supply of North Carolina.
NEW YORK OYSTER INDUSTRY.
The oyster industry in New York
state has grown very rapidly, and the
annual output is now estimated to be
worth $1,000, 900 a year. The State
taxes the owners and lessees of shell.
nsh grounds at the rate of 50 an acre.
and 1t Is expected that the tax will Weld
about $4,000 year. Until the pas-
sage of the new law the shellfish tax
amounted to about $1,000 a year.
Fishing Gazette.
The foregoing estimate Of $40, 600. 900
year output of oysters alone will
hardly hold good The oyster business
"a a whole, with or without the fish
business. may amount to that much
but the raw output of oysters certainly
Will not. AS for the revenue derived
New York IS way behind Virginia. and
We doubt not that correct statistics
would also give Virginia greater out
put than any other State, as she now
optstrips them in the matter of revenue
VIEW OF OYSTER FARMING.
To the Editor: This oyster farming
looks all right to me on paper. They
tell US what might be done if we lease
a piece OF oyster bottom from the
State, but when it comes to practical
experience the story is altogether diff
fercnt.
We have people on this river who
tried oyster farming and have been
sorry ever since. Capt. w. E. North.
and. of Solomons, planted 10 600
bushels Of seed oysters ON what the
oystermen called good biece of bot
TOM He says he will never get his
money out of them. Mr.. Breeder. who
has piece Of ground adjoining, saws
he would like to get the first cost out
Of his. Capt b. M. Woodburn planted
l,sOO bushels on the piece of ground
known as the Middle Ground, at the
mouth OF the Patuxent. He worked il
for five years and only got 600 bushels.
Suppose, on the other hand. that the
Oysters would live and mature. like
some think they will, and the oystermen
had their little farms full, and the ovs-
ter packer had his farm full, and steam
oyster boats dredging them; what would
the tongers and dredgers do with their
oysters? The packers would have ovs-
tiers of their own and would not have to
buy ours. The only way we could get
rid of ours would be to sell them Tn
other states as seed oysters to come into
with our market. which il
being done every year. Some think that
in the states which favor oyster culture
oystermen are prosperous. but | have
talked with people in Virginia and know
{ to be the contrary. One man told me
ne had $4,000 bushels on his ground and
some of them had to be taken off and
tent to market. He says he had to get
70 cents bushel for them to make 2
Der cent on his money. He is planter
N the Rappahannock River.
have talked with people in New
Jersey. They say if dredging is sus-
'ended this year the State will be better
m. One man says he has his ground
uli and has not sold any. for three
ears. They are poor. Ny friend from i
scotland Postoffice implied that the CAP .
aims of dredging boats would make ex-
client captains of steam dredgers. I
here will be room for only a few and ,
he rest would have to get out of the {
usiness- We hope that day will never 1
ONE. for there are too many people out I
I employment nOw.-Andrew johnson.