T54 PRACTICAL ZOOLOGY 



' The man had sure a palate cover'd o'er 

 With brass or steel, that on the rocky shore 

 First broke the oozy oyster's pearly coat, 

 And risk'd the living morsel down his throat.' 



' The methods employed in oyster farming resemble those of 

 agriculture, in that the bed is prepared, seed is sown, superfluous 

 and foreign growths are weeded out, enemies are driven off, and 

 the crop is harvested at stated seasons. The oyster is ovovivip- 

 arous; that is, it retains its eggs until they are partly matured. 

 These are held in the gills and mantle folds until the time of 

 spawning, which begins in May and lasts through the summer 

 months. The larvae are ejected as ciliated spheres, called spat, 

 and swim freely about for some time, often several days, before 

 finding a resting spot. The oyster grower secures many of the 

 larvae by placing in their way substances to which they can at- 

 tach themselves. The American culturist strews his carefully 

 prepared beds with empty oyster-shells, on which the spat settle, 

 and the seed is thus secured; for the spat, once fastened, lose 

 the power of locomotion and become fixed. At the end of a 

 year the shells which hold the young oysters (now about an inch 

 long and called " fry ") are taken up, and the fry are thinned out 

 and replanted, or are sold to other oyster farmers. 



" During the period of their growth the oysters are sometimes 

 transplanted several times. At the end of three to five years 

 they have attained marketable size, and the beds are then har- 

 vested and prepared for another crop. Some oystermen have 

 several acres of bottom under cultivation. These areas are 

 obtained by purchase or grant from the state, and their limits 

 are as defined as are the fenced-off acres of upland meadows. 

 The business of the oyster culturist is to plant the young oysters 

 and watch their development, keeping the beds thinned that the 

 oysters may not be too crowded for their normal and symmetrical 

 growth, and protecting them from their enemies, of which there 

 are many. 



"The principal enemies of the oyster are the starfish and the 



