344 



GEOGRAPHICAL EEVIEW OP THE FISHERIES. 



Detailed statement of IJiv quantities and rulitcs of Hie products. 



113. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS REGARDING LONG ISLAND. 



Long Island may be divided iuto four districts, which are distinct in the character of their 

 fisheries, as well as in their geographical position. Each one of these faces one of the cardinal 

 points of the compass. The divisions are : (1) the North Shore, extending from Astoria to Roanoke ; 

 (2) the East End, including Peconic and Gardiner's Bays, the sound fisheries to the north of them, 

 and the sea fisheries lying south ; (3) the South Side, including the bays of Jamaica, South Oyster, 

 Great South, Moriches, and Shiunecock; and (4) the West End, including New York and Graves- 

 end Bays and the East River. The character of the fishing in all these districts is such that it 

 is a most difficult matter to determine how many men are engaged as professional fishermen and 

 how many as semi-professional, from the fact that they are fishermen, oystermen, farmers, clam- 

 iners, yachtmen, and gunners by turns, following either one of these occupations at different 

 seasons as their interest or inclination leads. A description of these men is given in the section 

 of this report devoted to the fishermen. 



Most of the wealth of Long Island has been derived from the waters surrounding it. In the 

 western portion, where the soil is good, market gardening was once very profitable, owing to the prox- 

 imity of New York ; but since the introduction of steam as a motor, the increased facilities of trans- 

 portation have led other States, and even the distant Bermudas, to compete for the early vegetable 

 trade of the great metropolis, so that the business, although still extensively carried on, now 

 yields much smaller profits than formerly. But the sea has contributed even to this source of 

 income, since the principal fertilizers used have always been marine products, such as fish and 

 seaweed. 



The eastern end of the island is sandy and but little adapted to agriculture. The whale fish- 

 eries formerly furnished subsistance for most of the inhabitants there, and on the decay of that 

 industry they turned their attention to the menhaden and other fisheries. 



