The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1916-11-03

Of all the products of the water,
oysters are, with the single exception
OF the sea behring's the most valuable
and most important TO the human race.
They owe that economic pleeminencG
to the fact that they have high FOOD
value and that they ale palatable
cheap widely distributed and easy 10
cultivate.
oysters occur in greater or less
abundance on the shores of all temper
ate and tropical seas, bur the supply In
the arms of the North Atlantic ocean
exceeds that in all other waters com
bincd There are at least hundred
different kinds or species of oysters,
with wide range in habits, flavor,
shape and size. All tue oysters On the
eastern and southern coasts of the
United States belong to one species.
which has. however, many local varie-
ties: the native oyster of the Pacihc
states of wholly different species.
In about thirty-fve countries oyster
farming is u special industry. The an
nual oyster crop of the world now
amounts to more than 10000 coo BUSH
els, for which the fishermen and plant
ers receive about S25,000.W0 The
United States furnishes nearly 80 per
cent of the crop.
Few animals are more prolific than
oysters. but of the millions of micro
SCOPE young that single full grown
oyster produces only very small PER
centage survive infancy. The heavy
natural mortality among oysters at all
times is particularly marked in their
carly months. Thc newly born young
are for few hours free swimming
creatures. waited about by tides and
currents and Unless they settle dowl
on Il suitable surface they quickly per
| ish. After attaining the size that is
visible to the naked eye they are not
able TO change their position. Whoa
the temperature. density. tides and cur
rents are favorable the floating young
20 10 the bottom and become attached
| 10 the shells of old oysters OF TO amy
other hard surfaces that may he pres.
ent. but al that fan on a muddy or
| soft. sandy bottom on on Shiny STU
faces soon perish Modern oyster cul-
tuTe aims primarily TO save the free
swimming young. ami oyster planters
therefore provide clean shells. tiles and
other hard objects 10 which the 'spat."
as the young oysters are called can
attach themselves.
Oysters have been under culture long
L., L.,
type Of cultivation flourished in China
NJ very remote period and probably
+ 2ntcdated by some centuries the begin
ming of oyster culture in Italy, which
was about the year 100 II. c. With the
increasing demand for oysters they
came to be cultivated in al the impor-
, tant maritime countries of Europe In
other parts OF the old world and in the
western hemisphere the growing OF
oysters by artificial means has become
an Important industry. SD that today
oysters are tie most extensively cult
waited OF all aquatic animals.
The human animal is not the only
one that looks with favor upon the ed
bic qualities Of the oyster. At every
stage in its career IL is attacked by
horde OF dangerous enemies. some Of
which are Most destructive after the
oyster has put OH its stoutest armoF
Before the young oyster attaches itself
il Is extensively consumed by adult
oysters and various other shelfsh as
! well as by fishes that strain their food
; from the water. When the oyster at
tains its shell new set of shellfish
enemies provided with drills begin
their attacks and extract the soft parts
through minute holes that they make
in the valves.
The oyster growers of Long Island
sound and adjacent waters suffer
heavy losses from the inroads of star
fishes, which. moving in waves over
the bottom. devom every oyster in
their path. In a single season they
|. have been known 10 destroy IN one
state several hundted thousand bush
els OF marketable oysters. 1t seems
strange at first that weak creature
like the starfiSh should be able to prey
Oh an animal so strongly fortified as
an oyster. The starlsh attaches it.
self to the lips Of the oyster shell and
eNerts Il steady and long sustained
suction with each Of its numerous
small suckers. After a time the pow
erful adductor muscle of the oyster
becomes fatigued. the valves open, and
the starfish inserts its stomach and de-
YOURS the helpless oyster at leisure.
Other enemies of the grown oyster
are fishes with powerful jaws armed
with crushing teeth On the Atlantic
roaSt the most destructive fish Is the
black drum, school of which may
virtually clean ont an oyster bed IN
one night. On the Pacific coast a spe.
rics of sting ray is the chief offender.
The United States is particularly
fortunate in its oyster supply. The
output here is larger and more valu-
able than elsewhere. Moreover. on ac.
count of the relative low ,ost Of oys-
tiers to the consumer in the United
States, the consumption in proportion
10 the total population is greater than
in any of the other leading oyster pro-
ducing countries.
Our annual oyster output is worth
about $1T.0o0,000 to the producers. The
yield has increased 20 per cent in guam
tity since 1880 and under the favor