The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1911-12-20

oysters make bushel, while the
smaller varieties require nearly
double that number Every Ameri-
can consumes or should consume
100 oysters each year to get his
share. New York is a great oyster
market, consuming perhaps $1,000
10000 a year, and 5000 families
are supported by the industry In
southeast Virginia the oyster is
worth $4,000 900 annually to the
people, and new fields are being add
ed in places along the entire Atlantic
| coast. Connecticut also cultivates
the mollusk and does a good oyster
| business.
Enormous Production in America.
France leads the world in the oys-
ter business. Arcachon, in the
southwestern part of that country,
is the mecca for oyster culture from
all parts of the world, and many
a wealthy producer has learned his
first lesson in the business while
viewing immense farms" devoted
exclusively to the production of the
slippery bivaIve. Arcachon is the
great center of production. Four
million oysters are said to thrive
nicely on piece of land $50 by $50
yards in area.
While the waters of the shores of
France are suitable for the profta-
bic culture of oysters they abound
with pests which play havoc with
shellfish and become a serious men
ace to the business. Starfish, bor-
ing sponges, whelks and other pests
abound and require the most vigi- |
liant and destructive warfare against
them. No dredging is allowed in |
French waters, and the fields are
said to retain their productive quail |
tiles better and longer than any 9th |
ers.
Perhaps the best favored oyster
to be found in the world is harvested |
on the shores of Great Britain. In
the beds on the shores of Kent and |
Essex fully 100000 marketable |
oysters are always in stock. London |
is a great consumer of oysters, the |
estimated amount being 1,00O,OO0,-I
600 a year.
How the Oyster Is Raised.
In cultivation oyster beds. formed |
roughly on the seashore along tide |
flats or in shallow sheltered water, |
are generally dredged thoroughly on
the start and afterward to keep them |
clean. Then shells, or thing, about |
by IS inches in size, are placed |
on the beds to which the young, or |
'spat, as the little fellows are call |
ed, attach themselves after leaving |
the mother, being carried by the |
movement of the water. It is esti- |
mated that for this purpose alone, in
this country, 100000 bushels of
shells are used in five years.
Generally the beds are laid out
like garden plots and each subdi-
vision is cultivated by itself. Only
half of a farm is worked in any year.
the plan generally adopted being to
summer fallow," as is done in rails
ing wheat. This is found to be I'M
profitable in natural propagation,
but where artificial means are en-
ployed the crop is taken off each
year. The plan of dyking to keep a
supply of water covering the land
all the time has been found to be
eminently successful in all parts of
the world. The land must be COW
cred with water to a depth of sey-
eral inches or the hot rays of the
sun in summer and the severe frosts
OF winter will kill the oyster and
finally ruin the beds.
Oysters of the very best quality
have firm white flesh, are nut-like
in flavor and enclosed in a shell in
form as nearly like the petal of a
rose as may be. The flesh is the
best criterion to go by when Judging
the character of an oyster. The
whittier and f1rmer the flesh the bet
ter the animal for food purposes.