The Wisconsin weekly blade. [volume] (Madison, Wis.) 1916-1925, 1916-11-30
The OYSTER CROP
One of the Most Valuable of
Those Gathered From the Sea.
ONLY THE HERRING BEATS 1T
Of the More Than Forty Million Bush.
els of These Nutritious BivaIves Gath
cred Yearly This Country Supplies
Over 90 Per Cent

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 pre-eminence
TO the fart that they have high food
value and that they are palatable.
cheap. widely distributed and easy to
cultivate.
Oysters occur in greater or less
abundance on the shores of all temper
ate and tropical seas, but the supply in
the arms OF the North Atlantic ocean
exceeds that In all other waters COM
bined. There are at least hundred
different kinds or species Of oysters.
with a wide range in habits. flavor,
shape and size. All the 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 Pacific
states of wholly different species.
In about thirty-hve countries oyster
farming is a special industry. The an
nual oyster crop of the world now
amounts to more than 1000 900 bush
els, for which the fishermen and plant
ers receive about $25.O0OOOO. The
United States furnishes nearly 90 per
cent of the crop.
Few animals are more prolific than
oysters, but Of the millions of micro
SCOPE young that a 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
early months. The newly born young
are for few hours free swimming
creatures, waited about by tides and
currents, and unless they settle down
on 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 When
the temperature. density, tides and cur
rents are favorable the floating young
go to the bottom aud become attached
TO the shells of old oysters or to any
other hard surfaces that may be pres
ent. but all that fan on muddy or
sort, sandy bottom or on Shiny sur
faces soon perish. Modern oyster Gull
ture aims primarily to save the free
swimming young and oyster planters
therefore provide clean shells. tiles and
other hard objects to which the "spat,"
as the young oysters are called, can
attach themselves.
oysters have been under culture long
er than any other shellfish. A simple
type of cultivation fi0urished in China
at very remote period and probably
antedaied by some centuries the begin
ming of oyster culture i'll Italy, which
was about the year 100 b. C. With the
| increasing demand for oysters they
came to be cultivated In all 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, SO that today
oysters are the most extensively cult
waited of all aquatic animals
The human animal Is not the only
one that looks with favor upon the edi-
bic qualities of the oyster. At every
stage In its career IL is attacked by a
horde OF dangerous enemies, some OF
which are most destructive after the
oyster has put on its stoutest armor.
Before the young oyster attaches itself
1t Is extensively consumed by adult
oysters and various other shellnsh as
well as by fishes that strain their food
from the water. When the oyster at
fatns- its shell new set Of shellash
enemies provided with drills begin
their attacks aud 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. devour every oyster in
their path. In single season they
have been known TO destroy in one
state several hundred thousand bush
els OF marketable oysters. Ii seems
strange at first that weak creature
Ike the startlsh should be able to prey
on an animal so strongly fortified as
an oyster. The startiSh attaches IT.
self 10 the lips of the oyster shell and
exertS a steady and long sustained
suction with each OF It's numerous
small suckers. After II time The pow
erful adductor muscle OF the oyster
becomes fatigued. the valves open. and
the startish 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 O. the Atlantic
coast the most destructive fish is the
black drum, school OF which may
virtually clean out an oyster bed I'm
one night On the Pacific coRst spe
cies OF sting ray is the CHIEF offender
The United States is particularly
fortunate in SIS oyster supply Tha
output here Is larger ana more valu-
able than elsewhere, Moreover. on &C,
count ~ the relative low cost OF oys.
ters 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