The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-02-25
BAY FULL OF ovsrsR FARMS.

gansett Bay is one huge oyster farm,
more than $4,000 acres of its waters
being under cultivation. 1t is hard
to realize that from twenty to fifty
feet under the surface there are laid
ont 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 circumscribed as
a rule by their own boundaries the
fields Of the former are widely scat
tered, some of them being more than
twenty miles apart.
This Is due to the fact that the oys-
terman cannot, as does the farmer on
shore, purchase his land outright, but
must lease 1t from the State for a
period Of ten years only, and when he
desires to add to his holdings must
His application is granted only after
II has been duly advertised to give any
one who wishes the opportunity OF
opposing 1t. The oyster farmer pays
the State an annual rental of from s.
to $40 an acre 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 transplanting
about seventy-five years ago of
number or shiploads of Virginia oys-
ters. These were placed in the
Providence River.
AT that time the oyster industry Of
the State was confined I'm 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
little more value to the State and
little more profit to those engaged in
1t. But even twenty years ago, accord
Ing to writer in the National Maga-
zine, the methods employed were very
different from those of today.
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 prac-
tically all the oysters grown In the
State were brought In from other To-
calities, chiefly from Connecticut and
Virginia.
The Virginia oysters even would not
accllmate, consequently they could be
left in the water for only few
months at most, It being necessary 10
take them up again before winter had
thoroughly set In. In 1890 a new day
dawned for the Rhode Island oyster
industry. There had been a success
ful set on ground that was a natural
bed in the Warren River, proving con-
clusiyely that the waters of Narragan-
sctt Bay. contrary to general belief.
were well adapted to the artificial
| propagation OF the oyster.
A great revival of the industry fol-
lowed, and naturally; but then a new
danger threatened.
The starflsh, ever an interminable
cause of worry to the Northern oyster
man, appeared to take on a new lease
or life and with such terrible effect
that many oystermen who had out
lived competition and high priced
seed became discouraged. There APP
peared to be no way whatever of deal
ing with 1t.
True the oysterman could dredge
his grounds again aand again, but
often with more damage to his oys-
tiers 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
fattenlng an army of them.
A few years ago a certain oyster.
man had been testing one of his beds
for signs of starfsh. He worked all
day aand caught but three bushels
OF them and had concluded that any
further dredging would be unneces-
sary.
Intuition, however, told him TO try
the bed Just once more, so the fol.
lowing morning he again set his
dredges in motion. To his surprise
and alarm he caught over a dozen
bushels that day and the two fol
lowing days fifty and one hundred
bushels respectively.
He saw that II the bed were to
be saved strenuous measures would
be necessary so he put his three
steamers at work upon II. II was an
uneven fight, for by the time the
startish showed any appreclable d.
minuition every oyster had been
swallowed, tasty morsel for the In
satiable stomach of its ayarlclouA
Ave fingered enemy.
The Rhode Island oyster industry
In It's present high state of develop
ment dates back only ten years, when
number of large Connecticut grow