The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-05-31
4 MILLION BUSHEL
 OF OYSTER SHELLS
InexhaustibIe Supply in the Bed at the
 Mouth of the Housa6enic.
Especial Corregpondence.) )

N0P6CldI OOEE0SpOnOSnCGsJ
 stratford. May s1-Piled up on the shores of KnelFs Island are a million bushels of shells taken from the bed of the Housatonic river this season. With one exception, perhaps, thin is the largest catch ever made in the river. In 1898 the piles were almost as large but probably lacked some of equalling the present supply. The shells are taken from an inexnaustible bed at the mouth of the river and are sold to the oyster cultivators to be planted on the beds. The young oys- ter after it is matched clings to, the has cast loose from the moorings it occupied at its birth. When the oys- ter spawns the "set'' as it is called floats away with the current. Should it meet no congenial resting place it floats on and is either lost or becomes the-food of the many forms of sea life which feed on the minute animal life which floats about with little or no means of propulsion or protection.
 Early in the history of oyster farm ing it was discovered that the fresh ly matched spawn would cling firmly to a clean surface. Various substan- ces have been used to attract the spawn in the past but the most nat ural and available is the shells of the parent biva1ve. Broken stone was used with some measure of success by the big planters but this was soon abandoned and the shells produced by the packing establishments were used. These esta blishments were unable to furnish enough shells to supply the demand and the shoremen in differ ent parts of this section of the North were called upon to obtain a supply. In some sections the bottoms of the harbors ands estuaries have been
 
 to the shore spread out to die and rot. The shells were afterward gath cred and sold to the oyster planters.
 At the mouth of the Housatonfc there is a bed of shells which natural ists assert has been accommodating for million years. In dredging cbannels mud diggers have penetrated &lais bed to the depth of over 20 feet with no indication that the bottom had been reached. Any where from 100000 bushels up have been taken from this bed every year for three or four de- cades. This constant drain has made no apprecia b1e impression on the ac- cumuIated mass. Early in the his tory of the oyster industry the plant CTS sought to invade this bed with machinery and procure their supply with power dredgers. The next season a law was on the statute books for bidding the use of any form of power in taking the shells. Since then the people of Stratford have fought every suggestion to open the beds to indis- criminate slaughter. This measure has preserved to the "Shore lilies of the town a source of revenue sure and remunerative. The price has varied very little in the last twenty years. This year the companies are paying the shelters 6 1-2 cents a bushel and it is easy to figure how much the town benefits by the industry. Almost eV-
 
 town or in Bridgeport. The work is hard requiring tough muscles and indifference to exposure. The sheN- ing is done at low water beginning when the tide is half dawn and end ing when the half flood is reached. This means that the sheller must fol- low the tides and daylight in the morning finds the boats at work on the beds and they remain until dark ness makes work impossible. Be- sides the laws of the state there are unwritten laws which are followed re- ligiously by the shelters. The bed is composed of a solid mass of shells about go per cent. of which are from oysters and they are packed in close Iy The Shelters work with ordinary oyster tongs which they use with great skill. A skillfuI SheIler will take something like 60 to 75 bushels of shells in a day. novice would have hard work to get five. Each Shener has spot where he has opened a "ho1e" and his right to this pre- emp ton is never disputed. Just what would happen if a, new conner should invade the private preserves of any Sheller cannot be guessed because such a thing has never occurred. The Shelters respect each others rights as religiously as did the Musselmen be- fore the hegira.
 This has been an unusually busy year for the Shelters. Every bush el offered has been readily taken. The season is now about over and the work of planting will soon begin. Capt.