The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-10-01

industry of Local Growers Is
 Based Largely Upon Success
 That Attends Transplanting
 of BiVaIves to New Grounds. Poor Set This Year Means Big
 Loss to the Natural Grow
 thers How the Oyster Is At
 tackled By Natural Enemies
 Upon Lis Feeding Grounds. khether in California, Oklahoma or Maine, it is a pretty safe bet to greet as a former resident of Bridgeport for the chances are ten to one that it iaa spent the first two or three years 1t least. of it's existence. in the waters lbont this section Oysters are per laps the only strictly native produc- ion of the town and curiously enough, Although they are sent broadcast Throughout the country, they are al- most the only production which does not bear the Made in Bridgeport slogan. This section of Connecticut which includes New Haven and South Norwalk divides honors with Chesa pealxe Bay and parts of Virginia as he propagating places of the country for that much sought article of food.
 Nevertheless, while the oysters of Nara gansett Bay. of Barnegat Bay, of Blue Point of South Bay and of aundred other places as well are fla nous one never hears of stBridge- port oysters" of ssSouth NorwaIk' or New Haven oysters for there are no such
 In spite of the fact that these places serve as oyster nurseries for. the aen-l ire country residents of this section lust obtain their grown oysters from tIaer sections as this queer production -f nature is never matured in these waters because Of he pollution: of the rivefs and harbors about here.
 Grower Gambler
 An oyster. be it kown, must be at least four years of age before it is marketable size. These four years represent long months of careful watching for the oyster business, ac- cordirax to ore who is well versed in it. is ak its best q big gamble, and an oyster grower nnnst be "A first class gambler with a lot of patience.
 The oyster business of this section deals particularly with the set, as it is called and the very young oyster. Tine fac that there is no s.set this an hlcalcu1able loss to the dealers about Bridgeport. The t.set' is the small shell covered speck which at taches itself to almost anything with which 1t comes intoScontact and which at inc end Of four or five years under favorable conditions is a full grown oyster
 Durine the spring, thousands of bushe1s of oyster shells are planted in the beds about this part of Connecti- cut in expectation of the first spawn ing cf the oysters which occurs as a. rule, during the early part of August. From five to seven days, the fertilized spawn floats about on the water and 1then settles, attaching itself to what 1 ever f8 can which in the case of these private beds are the shells thas have been put down for this purpose, thus forming the set
 Storm Kills Set
 Everything seemed favorable the first few days of last August and oys- ter growers were hopeful of a good ssset when, about the sixth of the month, there came terrific storm which ragged abou the sound for sew eraI days, tieing up shipping in gem eraI and doing considerable damage of which the greatest, was no doubt, the destruction of the @sSt"s
 What it represents in money may be judged from the fact that upwards of 100000 bushels of shells at a cost of eight cents per busnel, exclusive of the expense of labor for getting the grounds ready and for placing the shells were planted albou this part of tFAe state in expectation of this set TostE1is also must be added the cost of removing these shells and cleaning up the grounds. for it is a curious thing that shell which has been in the water any length of time becomes foul and SO sliny that the tsset'' will not adhere to it.
 There is<what is known ks the t'se- cond set's late in September but it is so small and conditions are then so unfavorab1e to it that growers do not reIy upon it but place all their hopes in the first set-'' TEe second set'' this year has not eased the situation in the least
 Cross Breed Oysters
 As proof of the fact that the aset'' will adhere to almost anything hard oystermen often find good sized oys- ters c1lnging to the most unusual ob-. 5eets,, pipes which have been lost over beard. piecest of hose, old pans, lids Of coffee pots, old baskets and all sorts Of objects that the spawn has happened to settle upon.
 Many growers have discovered that to get satisfactory results it is quite ters. Early every spring, these grow CTS buy several schooner loads of @Vir-f gfnia oysters for spawning purposes only. They we'll know that these Vir- glllia oysters will die the next winter but they take chances on getting the spawn to mix with that of their own oysters.
 Sometimes growers go for three or four years without getting a ..set and in South Norwa1k there are some planters who have not had a "set', in seven years. yet. if they expect to stay in the business. they must continue to take the same care of their beds. get tHnE the grounds ready and planting skzlsl1s each season. in the hopes of @as@Aring this rather capricious neces- sa&y of their business.
 No ssSetss on Pacific
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