THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE OYSTER. 7 



" The original Saddle-Rock oyster was not only very large, but 

 possessed a peculiar, delicious flavor, which gave it its reputation. 

 And it received its name because it was discovered near a rock known 

 as Saddle-Rock. A high northwest wind, continued for several suc- 

 cessive days, always causes very low tides in Long Island Sound and 

 its bays. On the farm of David Allen, situated near the head of 

 Great Neck, on the eastern shore of Little Neck Bay, is a rock about 

 twenty feet high, and from fifteen to twenty feet in diameter. The 

 shape of the top of this rock resembles somewhat the form of a 

 saddle, and from that circumstance is called Saddle-Rock. At low 

 water the upper or land side of this rock is left bare, while the oppo- 

 site or lower side is in the water. In the autumn of 1827, after a 

 strong northwest wind had been blowing for three days, a very low 

 tide occurred, and the water retreated far below the rock, leaving a 

 space wide enough for a team of oxen to pass quite around it. This 

 extraordinary low tide revealed a bed of oysters just below the rock. 

 The oysters were very large, and possessed the most delicate flavor; 



Fig. 4. 



-Fagots suspended from Eopes, to serve as Attachments for Otster-Sfat, in 



Lake Fusaro. 



we collected cart-loads of them, and placed them in our mill-pond 

 (tide-mill). The news of the discovery spread among the oystermen, 

 and boat-loads soon found their way to the city, where, on account of 

 their excellent flavor, they commanded fancy prices, even reaching 

 ten dollars a hundred ! an enormous price for those days. In a very 

 short time the locality was exhausted, and for more than forty years 

 there has not been a real Saddle-Rock oyster in the market." 



^ At present the favorite native is the Shrewsbury, which is mainly 

 obtained by planting, in the Shrewsbury River, seed procured from 

 Tappan Bay. Of this seed there will be in a bushel about 2,500 



