Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1910-07-29
THE VIRGINIA SITUATION

Fisheries FOR Virginia, IN the Oyster
man and Fisherman.
Owing to natures lavish hand in
moulding water and boundaries to be
peculiarly adapted to the propagation
and cultivation of oysters, and. as if her
cornucopia were not yet emptied. the
gift OF a happy contour of the divide
between land and seattle Chesapeake
Bay forming great natural fishnet
pocket, citizens of Tidewater Virginia
need never fear permanent dearth of
the best of seafoods-fish and oysters.
True, mans greed may at times, but
temporarily only, suspend the great
influx of fish, or denude the natural
bars of the uncultivated bivalve, but
with a modicum of conservation and
the periodical slump in demand for such
things, the Old Dominion can safely
provide seafood for ten-fold the num-
ber of children she now boasts and still
say to the prodigals of other domains
that we have enough and to spare.
Granting the uncontested claim that
the North American continent is pre-
eminently far and away beyond all
other globe points in the production of
desirable oysters, Virginia may well
lay claim to having the greatest and
best territory and advantages of any
locality on the continent. So far. no
individual State can approximate her
natural advantages in this respect, un-
less il be her sister State and co-part-
ner i'm the great Chesapeake. Maryland.
We concedc that certain other States
north of US may have improved their
talents To n greater degree than We
their one may have gained two, while
our ten has but yielded an additional
tive-and it is to our detriment that we
have not proffted by the combination of
energy and methods that have assisted
others to make admirable showing out
of restricted resources. But we are
coming Twenty years ago we were
where others are now beginning; still
we are only upon the threshold that yet
others crossed many years ago. We
need men. money and brains in our oys-
ter aifairs-brains most of all. To point
wise legislation, To crush down barriers
of ignorance and prejudice, to show
to make the most of opportunities, the
most of natural gifts. teach conserva-
tion in lines needed Gncluding manipn-
lation) and the utilizing of now waste
products.
Virginia probably possesses greater
advantages and facilities for oyster cul-
ture and vaster territory than all the
New England States and New York
combined. She is rivaied in these op-
portunities only by Maryland, but it is
conceded by statesmen and statisticians
of that State that the Old Dominion is
some fifteen years ahead in legislation
and adaptation. Unfortunately for her
people, the Commonwealth north of us
is hampered by politics in oyster affairs
to a much larger degree than We, and
there is little hope that the near future
will see her release. The Gulf States,
whose extent Of oyster territory is yet
an unknown quantity, may in a genera
tion rival the Chesapeake Bay section;
but there is no immediate prospect OF
this. A recent visit by the writer tc
the oyster sections of Mississippi anC
Louisiana has satisfied him that three
serious problems must first be work &c
out there before the Gulf section car
| ever hone fO take nre-aminanca-it
eVer-in the oyster market. At sucl
time, it is reasonable to hope that pop
ulation and appetite will have So ad
vanced that there will be room in tn,
market for the vast output of the Gul
without running out the other States
The three factors alluded to are: Tn,
labor problem, legislation and knowl
edge of culture. The latter may b,
readily attained, but legislation ma,
require decade, while the question o
labor will demands a generation of then
to fully evolve. The oyster of tn
Gulf is inferior TO that Of the Atlanti
Coast. Nowhere but IN a few place
in Louisiana is there an oyster to b.
found that will anywhere approach tn
Lynnhaven or other superior Chesa
peake oyster in flavor or shape, an,
these are under size, although shown,
careful and improved cultivation.
In passing, it can be said that tn
price of oysters, like fruit, is low in tn