Bisbee daily review., 1914-01-11
THE OYSTER IS ONE 0F C0UMTRYS BEST
 PAYING POSSESSIONS
Fisheries Department Gives Out Report Extending Sur prises as to Values

On me NOTlus B MOst NdludDle Mh- | ter Crop amounting to over 42 mil. | lion bushels and valued. at nearly | s25. 100000 annually Of this output, the share of the United States is Ss l per cent of the quantity and 60 per cent of the value.
 Oysters are the most valuable and most extensively eaten of shellfish economically, they are the most i'm. pcrtant of all cultivated water pro- ducts" writes Commissioner Smith to the National Geographic Society. Tn at least 35 countries oysters sup. port a special fishery. On the shores of all temperate and tropical oceans and seas, oysters occur in greater or less abundance but the supply in the North Atlantic exceeds that of Ill other waters combined. Not less than l50.000 men and women are engaged in the oyster industry and the capital invested in vessels. boats, apparatus. oyster lands, and cultural establish ments aggregates many million dol .ars.
  with a rather wide range in size shape. habits, flavor and food value Oysters produce an immense num- Der of young in order to compensate for the heavy mortality that occurs, particularly in the early months. After the oyster attalns a size that is visible to the unaided eye, it is incapable of changing it's position This is in marked contrast with the newly-born young. which Is a free swimming creature, floating about about with tides and currents. Of the millions of microscopic young liber- ated by single full-grown oyster. only an exceedingly small percent. age become attached to suitable form a shell. and enter on a career [ that will terminate on the table in ! two to four years. All the young that 1 fall on muddy or soft sandy bot tom, or on surfaces that are slimy, are lest. Oyster culture therefore aims primarily to conserve the free swimming young, which 1t accom- plishes by sowing clean oysters-shell or other 'cultch to which the 'spat can attach or by collecting the young on tiles or brush raised above the bottom or suspended between the sur face and bottom.
 'rhe cultivation of oysters is made necessary by the exhaustion of the natural beds; it is made possible by private ownership or control Of oyster-producing bottoms; and 1t Is
 greatly facilitated ty the peculiar susceptibility of oysters to increase and improvement by artificial means. At every stage in its career the oyster is attacked by a hor5e of dangerous enemies. Befcre it becomes attached the delicate oyster fry Is extensively consumed by adult oysters and var ious other shellfish. When 1t attains it's shell, a ney set N shellfish enc mics, provided with drills, begin their
 attacks and extract the soft parts through minute holes made in valves |, It is remarkable that a weak creature
 like the star6sh should be able tt prey on an animal so strongly forti fled as an oyster Other enemies ol f the grown oyster are fishes with pow
 erful jaws armed with crushing teeth.
 Any consideration of the world'i , oyster industry the United State. necessarily receives first and mos prominent mention. The oyster | , taken in every coastal state excep one. it is the chief fishery product ii
 l5 states and 1t is the most extensive ly cultivated of cur aquatic animals
 The seven leading oyster states arr :. Rhode Island. Connecticut. New York
 New Jersey, Maryland. Virginia am :, Lcstsiana, with Virginia, Maryani 5 and Connecticut leading in the orde :. named. The body of water that pro
 duces more oysters than any othe | body in the world Is the Chesapeak -. Bay. with an output of over II mi l,cn bushels. valued at more tha i $.230, 1000. oyster culture in the Unite
 States consists in CD acquiring sui n able submerged bottom, (2) cleanin
 ana preparing the bottom for tn growth of oysters, (3) sowing there fl on shells or other material for tn |. attachment and growth Of youn
 oysters. t4) insuring the productic
 of larval oysters by the proximit
 of natural or planted beds of adu ,t oysters (5) protecting the oystf
 beds from enemies (6) transplail o ing as the occasion requires to pr
 vent overcrowding and to facilitai
 growth and fattening, and CD cu'
 ing and sorting for market.
 n- "The Federal Government does n, n- hatch oysters arti1cially and distl
 bute them by the billion for Il
 stocking of public and private W
 ters as 1t does food fishes. It give n. practical aid to the states and c operates with them in determinir the physical and biological characte of the, oyster grounds in clpductir .d d'~xperimenatal and ncder planting [ v Nefnlons, tn ,Tecommending 4 oysts
 legislation. and 1n giving disints
 ested and expert advice on the va .s ious problems that arise in the dew \ opment and hdmShis9aton of tt
 oyster fishery