Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-06-06
EXTEND AIR VOYAGE MAY FLOAT OYSTERS
Practice of Producers Sane
toned With Conditions. g.
ARGUMENT OF DEALERS
Claim That the Treatment Il Not
Unnatural and Does Not Bloat
or Injure Bivalve.

"F'lsRted oysters have been sanctioned
by the Department Of Agriculture Under
certain conditions. The pure food board
of the department gave q hearing to the
oyster dealers several weeks ago, when
there were present representatives. OF eli
the oyster-proaueing states az far north
as Massaehusetts. 1t was explained by
the dealers at that hearing that It wRs
the uniform custom to finish oysters for
the table by floating them in either fresh
or braekfsh water before they were sold
to the retail dealers. 1t was. said at the
hearing that this was necessary to make
the oysters plump and to make them
keep. It was explained that oysters were
shipped as far as England and to the
Pacific coast without floating, but that 1t
was more expensive to pack them for
such shipment.
Departments Decision.
1t was announced. in a decision issued
by the Department of Agriculture today
that the floating" Of oysters would be
permitted by the department if the water
in which the floating was done was OF
the same saline content as the water i'll
which the oysters were grown. Accord
ing to the testimony given at the hearing
or the oyster Shippers THIS Will IOl
plump up the oyster and make it stay fat
as is the case when it is f1oated in fresh
water
The department rules that if oysters for
interstate shipment, and this covers all
oysters sold in Washington, are given a
drink of fresh water, they must be mark
ed on the container. ''floated oysters
IL they are loated in water that is poi
luted they will be considered adulterated
within the meaning of the pure food law.
Local Dealers Undisturbed.
Local oyster dealers who will have to
handle the oysters marked ''floated' re-
ceived the decision of tho Agricultural
Department with equanimity. They said
that it was necessary to float oysters in
order to make them salable, and they did
not care whether the containers were
marked "ioated'' or not
1T will not make any difference to us
whether the casks and buckets that oy.i-
tiers come in are marked 'floated' or not,
because we could not sell a salt water
oyster that had not peen fattened," said
the manager for Charles II. Weser.
Effect Of a Drink.
J. H. Hogan said: You take the
oysters from the Potomac. York river
and Lynnhaven bay. 1 can buy the
first for So a barrel. The next will
cost probably $3.50 and the last Sc. If
they are not fioated you would buy
the Potomac oyster by preference on
it's looks But after you give the oys-
tiers a drink of brackish water the
oyster that has been raised in the very
salt water is better looking and big
ger. You cannot sell the choice oysters
from the very salt water until they
have been given a drink of fresh water
and you would not want to eat them
because they are bitter. But I never
heard OF any one being made i'll by
eating an oyster that had been fioated
in clean water.
Il can tell a very salt water oyster
that has not been fioated, but / do not
from one raised in brackish water. I
only know I would not want to eat
very salt water oyster that had not
been fioated. because it would be bitter
and would not be fat"
Not an Unnatural Treatment.
Practically the same statement was
made by Mr.. Wesers manager. He
said: There is nothing unnatural about
floating an oyster. 1t is not hoated in alb
solutely fresh water, because if it was
it would die. But it is not 'bloated' by
being given a drink of brackish water.
You can prove this for yourself by TAX
ing deep sea oyster and cooking it
beside a brackish water oyster, or one
that has been 'floated.
1.-The salt oyster will not stand cook
ing, and you will have nothing left but
the head. On the other hand, if you
steam a bloated oyster it will be quite
as big, or bigger, when you are through
than it was when you started. If it
had merely been bloated by brackish
water it would have gone to nothing
when 1t was cooked, but the fact that
II stands up to the cooking, while the
salt water oyster does not, shows that
there are real meat and tissue that have
been added by the finishing in brackish
water.
''You take oysters that are grown in
brackish water at the lower end of our
rivers. They are fat and they thrive IN
their surroundings, but you let heavy
floods Of fresh water come down and
they will kill out the oysters in the beds.
The men who have big capital invested
in the oyster packing business know when
an oyster is in natural surroundings and
when it is not, and they are not going to
throw away money by treating oysters
unnaturally and killing them. Oysters
that are raised in very salt water have
to be fattened in brackish water before
they are fit to use. The cooking test
will show you that they really fatten and
do not bloat when they are f1oated."