The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-10-15
While the Oyster is King

The week October 2oth TO 25th has been des-
ignated by the oyster Growers and Dealers
Association of North America oyster Week,
and everything possible is to ye done during that
period to promote interest in and demand for
the oyster. The general public viii do we'll to
( encourage this effort to expand a great and ben
cficd industry. Every table during that week
should be especially we'll supplied with oysters
in SOME style or other, and it is to he hoped
that the American people VIII then learn 30 form
still higher appreciation Of the food value Of
the oyster and realize the economy OF making it
a frequent part of their diet,
From time immcmoral tine oyster has been a
/ favor;te item In the menu OF the human race.
The famous Kitchen middcns'' OF primitive
times prove by their vast heaps OF shells hat the
oyster a prehistoric article Of diet And
all through the historic ages this prince of
hivalYes has appealed to the appetite and taste
of mankind. The Romans when they were mas
ters OF the world Were themselves mastered by
the oyster. their Indulgence In II being one of the
amusing chapters in gastronomic history. And
in the modern dietetic world the oyster holds
lofty place II has a position all IT'S own:
it cannot be initiated displaced it be
eaten raw. it lee cooked in many ways.
and the lovers Of good eating never seem to tire
of It.
OF all sea foods, the oyster. in the estimation
of most people, is the most wholesome and de-
cious 1t is not mere delicacy. but a real and
nutritious food Thus it is fitted to furnish bod
y strength as well to tickle the palate. Es-
have become debiitated is 1t suitable form of
nutriment. Easily digested and assimilated. It
is an ideal source of new life and vigor to the
invalid. Many an individual whose digestive
apparatus is out of order could ana wisely
should. subsist mainly this bivalvc until his
health is restored
Our patriotic epicures rejoice in the fact that
the American oyster is without peer-it sur
passes those OF other countries And If is in
America that the oyster is most appreciated.
and the utilization Of 1t most nearly universal.
How few persons there are in the United States
who familiar with this valuable Wand :?
Few families poor as not occasionally 70
have "a stew, fry ora raw, and mutitudes of
households put the oyster regularly their bin
Of fare. a week, if not oftener. The de-
mand for oysters is increasing not only in pro-
portion to increase in population. hut faster still
Yet oysters have played part in the higher
cost of living. They today, in past de-
cades a moderate priced addition TO the larder
This Is In spite Of the fact that the natural beds
on which the oyster thrives have either become
exhausted, or are incapable of supplying the
ing demand. Here. as elsewhere. name inge-
nuity has supplemented natures deficiency
The oyster Is longer q wild animal" 1t
IL being cultivated and propagated as If II we're
a chicken a plant The oyster farm" in the
sea depths off various portions of our coasts
is one OF the most successful devices for keep
ing up and enlarging the food supply Artificial
beds yielding prolifically, being prepared by
skilled oystermen every year. and the aggregate
of these is expanding rapidly that there
is danger that the oyster will become I'M
reasonably high This is a matter for Americans