Evening star., 1920-11-28

valued at 81 5000, 900, as it comes from
the water. BY the time the crop
ever. it assumes much more expensive
proportions. according to the gold leaf
decorations and quality of restaurant
service. There is no definite way Of
ascertainfng just how much the peo-
pie of the United States pay each year
for the oysters they consume.
Chesapeake bay produces more .oys-
ters than any other body of water in
the world. 1t is estimated that $1,000
persons are employed in the oyster
business.
/ There are other fisheries which pos
sibly exceed it in the ultimate value
of their products, but in such cases
much labor and material and q heavy
investment of capital have been con-
cerned in manufacturing operations to
prepare the product for the consumer.
as. for instance, In the canned salmon
industry Of the Pacific coast. The
American fishery for Goldfish on the
Atlantic coast, which has been the
cause Of much diplomatic discussion
and Of grave international negotia-
comparison. its value in normal times
being about 100000 yearly, and the
shad fishery, the prospects Of which
each spring call forth much comment,
produces not one-tenth as much food.
The oyster, as most persons know
like that stolid vegetable. is attached
to the soil. although not by roots; but
in its infancy it swims freely. though
feebly. and before it settles down may
wander far from the parental locality.
The embryo oyster, which forms after
| the egg is discharged into the water
by the mother, is SO small as to be
! just visible to the unaided human eye:
This embryo soon becomes covered
with microscopic fieshy bristles. which,
bea ting in unison, give It some power
f; of locomotion. though they are serv-
water and bringing it within reach
of the tidal currents which watt it
afar.
| After a brief career Of travel q tiny
shell begins to form, and as the burden
Of this increases q change OF habit
comes. The little oyster must attach
itself to support and settle down to
the sedentary life Of the adult. and this
necessity brings one Of the gnvest
crises Of its life. 1t is hardly visible
without lens and the thinnest film OF
sediment will cover and stihe 1t. and
been swimming is muddy. Only oyster
beds. gravel and shells. piling and SIM
liar bodies in the water present q sur
| face sufficiently firm and clean to serve
the little oysters purpose. The more
! fortunate ones cement their shells to
|
| main where they fell. unless displaced
| by some external force, but for each
one which becomes 30 attached there
| are unknown myriads which fall on un-
suitable surfaces and perish This ID
one reason why It is necessary for the
| eggs that her kind shall not disappear
from the waters.
l rh1 WAN ~,ho Arof ,,ndar<oa1, ox,otar
| culture in America did not know these
things. nor many other interesting facts
| Of the oysters life. but they had OBJ
served that almost any hard-surfaced
| objects falling into the water il they
| became coated with a growth of oys-
| ters, and they reasoned that such ma
| terials purposely placed on barren bot
toms would establish artificial oyster
beds and that to the man who made the
deposit belonged the oysters. Thus be-
| termen themselves. the practice Of oys-
| ter culture in the United States, which
! has developed until at the present time
about one-half Of the oysters produced
in the country, and nearly two.thirds OF
the total value Of this product. are
derived from artificial beds. privately
| owned or leased from the states.
| Beginning in shoal waters alongshore
the oyster growers havc extended their
operations into the deep open waters oi
Long Island sound and Chesapeake bay
| and to every coastwise state from Mass.
achusetts to Texas and from Washing
ton to California. and the few small
boats first employed. propelled by saila
or oars, have given place to fleets Of
motor boats and steamers. In 1911
planters spread 100000 bushels oi
| young oysters. shells and gravel ovel
their 100000 acres Of oyster farms.
| Between the planting and thu
harvest, an interval from two to five
wears, the oyster culturist assumei
many hazards. On the New England
coast, after all his material Is down
the tickle set may not appear. pos
sibly because at the critical time
some weather disturbance may have
killed the baby oysters while they
were yet swimming near the surface
In the Gulf of Mexico the "set" may
be so heavy that there Is scant room
for the oysters to grow and man!
die, while those that are left are hal
starved and missha pen from crowd
ing. Even when the little OYSTER
or "spat" have attached themselvel
in favorable numbers their perili
have just begun. They are nevel
safe from other enemies until they
| fall into the 1,ands of their arch foe
man Schools Of drumfish may -rin(