El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-08-23

-. ALTIMORE, Nd. Aug. 23.-The gov
eminent fisheries bureau, as a re-
~ suit Of a recent and careful study
declares that the oysters Of the Chesa-
peake in the course of a year filter
through their gills not less than half
of all the water contained in that great
baylor the purpose be It understood,
Of separating out the tiny plants and
microscopic animals on which these
mollusks subsist
Actual experiments nave proved that
an adult oyster OF average size. four
and half inches long, filters, in the
manner described, thirty quarts of wa
ter per diem-from which quantity Of
brackish fluid, in river mouth or es-
tuary, it separates out from one to two
cubic millimeters of food material A
cubic millimeter is One-twenty- fifth of
an inch on edge-abOut the bigness Of
the head of a goOd-siZed pin.
The estimate for. the entire Chesa-
peake, above quoted, is figured on the
basis Of an oyster population per acre.
They average from sixty to seventy
bushels per acre, about 400 oysters go
ing to make a Dushel. With these data
to start with, it is easy to calculate
the total amount of food consumed in
year by the oysters Of the great
estuary,
Half Million Acres of Oysters
There are about 100000 acres Of
beds in the bay-representing the
above basis Of calculation. a total pop
ulat1on of 1900, 100000 oysters. sup
posing that each Of them consumes Con
an average } one and one hailf cubic
millimeters of food daily, their total
requirement for sustenance every
twenty-four hours would be twenty
one cubic yards Of prOvender. In a
year they would eat 1865 cubic yards
of food, a quantity which, in one
chunk, would form cube nearly TWEEN
ty feet on an edge.
Chesapeake Bay is one of the rich
est agricultural regions of the earth,
the fertility of its bottom being com
parable to that Of the valleys of the
Nile and Gauges. But it is adapted
for only one crOp-the oyster. The
whole of its bottom is covered BY a
finely divided black sediment known
as oyster mud" which IS so rich that
the material putrefies in a few hours
if exposed to the sun
This sediment is extremely rich in
oyster food, and it is reckoned that
there is an available area of 500 SQUARE
miles on the bottom of the Chesapeake
which if the proper methods Of plant
ing were adopted could easily be made
to yield $50 an acre per annum,
Perfection Reached on Long Island
Oyster culture in this country reach
es its highest development in Ions. Is
land Sound, where practically all OF
the enormous annual crop is produced
by a crude, semi-artificial breeding:
that is to say, by planting oyster shells
and other kinds Of shells on the bottom
for the young ''spat' to settle upon at
spawning time, and using the little ov-
sters thus obtained for PLANTING, pur-
poses. Nearly one-third of the bottom
Of that great arm of the sea il now
occupied by oyster beds (protected bv
rigid laWs), the product Of which IL
harvested as regularly as anv land
crop. SeVenty-five thousand acres are
under cultivation and some of the beds
are eight miles from shore and at a
depth Of 100 feet.
The French people do not care vary
much for our oysters. Theirs are artf-
ficially fed in "claires"-i. e. ponls in
swamp and salt meadow, supplied with
water from canals. Such monde are !
productive of the mic |
rOscopic plants called "diatoms." which !
furnish an important part of the food
Of the b1valves. From this diet they
acquire a slightly greenish tint which
the European epicure regards as high |
" desirable.
But this is only the beginning. In
order that the oysters NAV be freed Of 1
my traces Of digested matter that /
night hnger in their intestines, they