546 HISTOliY ANL> METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



OBSTACLES AND FATALITIES. The obstacles to oyster planting are many, the difficulties 

 often recurring, and the fatalities to which the planted beds are subject are incessant and diverse. 

 The uncertainty and narrowness of laws, the prejudice and dishonesty of his fellow-men, the 

 growing scarcity and increased cost of seed, are preliminary difficulties which have been hinted 

 at. If the attempt is made to catch a "set" of spawn on artificial stools, many an accident may 

 prevent a successful issue. The chill of a storm, a rough gale, or a wayward current may destroy 

 or deviate the embryos that otherwise would have made a fortune for the planter. 



But if this crisis is safely passed, and the shells laid down at the proper day are loaded with 

 young, many an evil occurrence may blight the whole. If in shallow water they may be caught 

 up by a deep-moving storm and cast in windrows on the beach ; may be smothered in sifted mud, 

 or buried under heaps of moving sand; or the whole colony may die from some indiscernible 

 cause, perhaps lack of food. 



Surviving these risks, the young oysters, whether sowed as "seed" or raised from a "set," are 

 exposed to the ravages of a host of enemies fishes, crabs, star-fishes, niollusks, and worms, not 

 to speak of human thieves and mischief-makers. It is not worth while here to go into this list, or 

 discuss methods of prevention. Full information on the point may be found in my monograph, 

 and still further information, with illustrations of many pests, in a book published by Harper 

 & Brothers, New York, named "Country Cousins: Short Studies into the Natural History of the 

 United States." The catalogue might appal the stoutest heart did he not see the other side and 

 know that, despite all these drawbacks, from unwise legislators down to star-fishes, oysters can 

 be and are raised with success all along our coast. 



7. THE MARKETING OF OYSTERS " IN THE SHELL." 



I have already alluded to the removal of oysters from the beds, to be sold. This process is 

 nowhere marked by any specially noteworthy features beyond those already mentioned. The 

 season of "catching up" begins early in September and lasts until May. Merely getting the 

 oysters, however, does not make them marketable. In the first place they must be "culled," that 

 is, picked over, separated from one another when they are united in clusters, freed from trash and 

 small ones, and cleansed of mud. They may or may not be further assorted by the planter into the 

 various grades recognized by wholesale merchants. 



FRESHENING THE OYSTER. As they come from their beds in the salt water these oysters 

 are likely to have a flavor not quite their best. Nearly everywhere, therefore, they are placed for 

 a few hours in fresher water. At Providence and some other points this is done by immersing 

 the sloop-load on great rafts called "floats," anchored in the river near the owner's wharf. The 

 Fair Haven men value highly their inshore lots in the Quinuipiac, because of their utility in this 

 respect. Amboy and Staten Island find conveniences near Rahway, N. J. At Keyport, a small 

 creek running through the town (see illustration) is daily crowded with freshening floats, the 

 "skiffs" peculiar to the locality, and other implements of an oysterman's occupation. It is a scene 

 of extraordinary activity, which may be witnessed here in autumn every day, as the oysters are 

 being culled and prepared for sale. The planters of southern New Jersey have contrived an ingen- 

 ious labor-saving method of "giving their oysters a drink," as they say, by building what are 

 termed "platforms" or "board-banks." In some cases these are nothing better than a mere plank 

 floor, set in the bank in such a way that a boat-load of muddy oysters may be floated alongside at 

 high tide, and the oysters shoveled overboard upon it. The receding tide leaves this bare, and at 

 the same time opens sluice-gates, which allow a stream of fresh water from the laud to cover the 

 oysters, under the genial influence of which they rid themselves of the distasteful brine contained 



