Evening star., 1932-02-07


ley abound il the s~a and people are turning
ood to comp M ate this lack Of mineral content
res of land under sea water are in every sense
that are sovn with seed and cultivated Moth
v prolific than an oyster. If all the eggs that
,ther oysters rTo-id actually reached state or
be enough oysters 10 supply the whole world fo-
ingle mother sDaWns upward of 100,000,O0o eggs
onths But alas! all the eggs do not reach ma
so far, the scientists add hopefully. 1t has been
50 out of 100 900 900 reach maturity, for out In
the great open waters the unprotected, micro
scopc eggs are eaten by the thousands by
great variety of other marine life.
For experimental observation group OF
male and female oysters brought into the
laboratory during the Summer months d
propagation are protected in watts Of sea water.
where in pace 2n1 quiet and at the proper
temperature they discharge their eggs. After
fertilization the eggs become little one-ceH
creatures tr~n two cells, then four and SO on
until thy become tiny oysters. Meanwhile. they
are being nultu.ed, fed and cared for with the
most patient cf scientific treatment.
Unless some ingenious method is employed
to prevent it. the creatures are so tiny that
when their water is changed to renew the food
supply they would all themselves be changed
with the water and tossed out into the bay to
be devcured BY fish. Came the ingenious
.
mechanism very much like a cream separator
The water containing the microscopic oysters
is put through the Centrfuge, and instead OF
all the little oys. ers being thrown back into the
bay they arc vhirled onto metal plates shaped
like inverted tunnels packed together In
series.
Fresh sea water c,ntaining their natural
food Is brought into the tanks, the tiny oysters
are scraped from .ne plates of the separator
and put baC, in this new water for another "a
hours-until thy have again eaten all the tood.
Then the process IS repeated.
A FTER a period Of days the young oysters
u are ready to be set out on the marine
farms The are ready to settle down and at
tach themsc.ves to some hard surface ana
begin to thiC,en their shells and start their
long immobilo life of at least four years.
Cultivation 90 IN comes to their aid ana pro-
vides them with hard surfaces more abundant
and more accessible than discarded oyster
shells. rocks 21d ether rough resting places
of the early GAYS of cultivation. Now minla-
ture apartment houses are provided consisting
of care board. CriSs-CrOSs egg-crate containers
succeed with line, sand and cement, where
the young cy5,2rs set in whole communities
sometimes as numerous as $4,000 per crate
later to b, broken I'D permitting each to strive
for himself
At one farm" oysters are laid out in lots
and sections iust as land farms are fenced eff
into fields An inventory is kept in the farm
office books Of the number and location OF
bushels of seed oysters that have been soWn
The lots are numbered and the whole carefully
guarded for at the present time the entire crop
of this farm at Great South Bay is valued at
$1,000 OOO-a heavy investment, all under
water Oysters that were born in other waters
are brought to this farm for fattening. There
is complex process carried on in oyster
farming for the purpose of giving an oyster that
alI-imDortant rich and varied diet which the
waters hold SO far such secret and so I'M
portant one to solve.
Not alone will knowledge of the oysters diet
solve the future health and welfare of bigger
and better oysters The science OF genetlcs
enters in and is being studied and practiced
at the Sayville laboratory. To get the best
mothers and fathers for breeding seed oysters
the scientists are attempting to establish definite
oyster strains pedigrees and all Never before
has man known much Cf the family trees OF the
particular oysters he has handled or cultivated.
Now comes the long. hard quest for oyster blue
blood and birth certificates
While the scientists wisely decline to predict
that oysters will some day be raised in man
made shallow water reservations at the seas
edge, where ready food supplies can be fed
them and conditions of protection against their
enemies could be made ideal, they are utilizing
the laboratory tasks for the purpose of cultt-
waiting seed oysters as an excellent way OF
giving the young oyster eggs and larvae start
In life and particularly to afford opportunities
to determine some of the fundamental bio
logical principles of oyster breeding and de-
velopnent which can be employed by practlcal
oyster farmers. The expectation Is not the dis
place the natural environment OF the OYSTER