The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-03-04

wy oAc0As
In consequence, when the bowling
winter nor westers blow till they virtu-
ally empty the bay, any oysters on the
beds freeze. To forestall the loss the
wise oyster tonger becomes active and
markets Blue Points in the fall. 1t is
thus seen that the reason they are so
small is that they have had only one
summer in which to grow. A full sized
oyster in that latitude requires two
or three years to mature. Neverthe-
less you can find blue Points" on
bills Of fare In Kansas City at almost
any time of year.
Every locality has its pet brand Of
oyster. Boston has its Cape Gods,
New York its Saddle Rocks, Philadel-
phia its Cape May Salts, Baltimore,
Washington and Norfolk their Lynn
havens. Each place is willing to
wager that its particular bivaye is the
most luscious in the world. Not being
particularly averse to starting trouble,
the writer wishes to state that, having
been born in a New Jersey oyster rails
ing community, reared near the most
famous oyster beds of New York and
having eaten moluskssharyested along
every coast Of the United States, be
would lay a wager on the Bayou Cook
oyster, raised in the gulf of Mexico
for first place in the great oyster
sweepstakes, and on the Maurice river
coves raised in Delaware bay for sec
ond place. There are many who viii
agree with me in this oyster rating.
AS summer approaches persons who
have enjoyed their Blue Points until
the advent OF the r-less month Of May
will. with the same sang froid, order o
half dozen Little Neck clans as pre-
ude to yepast. They get them-not.
The Little Neck clam is thing OF the
paat. He, the genuine, takes his name
frcm Little Neck bay, which lies just
where the East river joins Long Island
sound.
The title, therefore. is not derived
from any particular formation Of the
CLAIMS anatomy, as most peop'e believe.
CLANS, unlike oysters, cannot be Guilt
waited on beds prepared for the pur-
pose, but are found In what are termed
natural beds. A number of years ago
one OF these great natural beds was
discovered in Little Neck bay, the
products OF which were Of the most
s.osk..r,o ond tapdar varfafv Tho
End was Immediately pounced upon by
clam rakers from far and near, ana
the reputation Of the Little Neck was
made. Although Il took only a few
years to exhaust the supply, nearly
every clam from every bed In the coun-
try has since basked in the reflected
glory OF that Little Neck harvest, and
you can still buy genuine Little
Necks" in any sea food emporium from
Maine to California.
There are many people who do not
know that hard shell crabs and soft
shell crabs are identical, the only dis
tinctlon being that the soft shell crab
for which you pay about three times
as much as for the hard shell variety
Is simply the crab caught Immediately
after he han backed out OF his old shell
and within two or three days OF the
time when the skin that covers his
body has had chance to harden into
the new shell. Soft shell crabs. like
certain Irish products. can be "eaten
skin and ALL They can be fried and
made very palatable. whereas the crab
with his regular shell In place has to
be dug out OF his aSmor and eaten IN
fragments or served under the menu
titles "deviled crab" "crab flakes" or
"crab salad"
The popular food flnny members Of
the Ash family have as many inter
esting characteristics rs their she'll
clad brethren. For instance, all the
hotels and restaurants that serve gen.
uine" Blue Points and Little Necks
heretofore referred to also set forth
with the same degree Of eQuanImlty
fillet Of sole "a Ia anything that sounds
palatable). The proportion OF the gen.
une TO the real article In the case OF
this commodity Is even less than with
the Blue Points.
The truth is that about ninety-nine
times out Of n hundred the chefs take
our old friend the plebelan founder
or catfish. and dress him up MS a
Frenchman. for real sole In this coun'
try must be imported from French
waters. Founders are caught In great
quantities all along the Atlantic coast
from New Jersey TO Maine. Wherever
no other fish WIN bite you can always
depend on booking a number o. the
old reliable founders.
The fact that Maine herring when
quite young are canned aud marketed
for sardlnea done M IN olive OH Is
fairly we'll known. As the home prod.
net Il about rs tasty and wholesome rs
the imported article there Is not much
use Of getting excited over the imposl.
tlon.- Captain c. A. McAlllster. Rove
nue. Cutter Service, in Chicago Record
Herald.