8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



young oysters, costing about 60 cents. After two years' growth, 

 200 will fill that measure. At present the Shrewsbury is accounted 

 by many as the emperor of the bivalves, and will fetch in market at 

 wholesale from $1.50 to $3.50 a hundred. What is called the summer 

 oyster is brought from the York and James Rivers, Va., and planted 

 north late in the season for summer use. 1 Some are brought from the 

 waters of Maryland. 



The Oyster-Trade. Dragon, as it used to be called, Fair Haven 

 now, near New Haven, was formerly the place where oysters were put 

 up for Northern and Western use. The bivalves were opened and put 

 into neat little kegs. Latterly the business has gone down to Balti- 

 more. " Shipping is yearly becoming more extensive, and Baltimore 

 though ahead at present has a powerful rival in the metropolis, as 

 all roads lead to it, like those of the ancient world to Rome. In Oc- 

 tober the shipping to Europe and California commences, and latterly 

 tubs instead of sealed cans are used. In shipping to St. Louis, Cin- 

 cinnati, and other places within a distance of a thousand miles, oysters 

 are shipped in cold weather in kegs protected by gunny-bags, but in 

 summer the kegs are placed in larger vessels and the space packed 

 with ice and sawdust. So expert has experience rendered the shipper 

 that oysters seldom spoil, and the Western purchaser may rejoice in a 

 comparatively fresh and wholesome article." 



Even in the northern parts of the State of New York, thirty years 

 ago, oysters were an unknown luxury. But the rapid transit " which 

 has been developed in the last quarter of a century has given a great 

 impulse to exportation, and statistics from reliable sources show that 

 many millions of dollars' worth of oysters are yearly sent from this 

 port alone. For instance, the average retail trade per week of Fulton 

 Market requires 250,000 oysters, and one establishment is called upon 

 to supply from 1,000 to 1,500 customers daily. The wholesale de- 

 partment packs and exports 100,000 weekly, and gives employment 

 to a large number of men. 



" The yearly returns from the home-market amount to $4,000,000 

 per annum, and from other localities to about $1,000,000. The trade 

 gives employment to 2,500 men in New York City, and to 200 in 

 Brooklyn. There are 750 oyster-saloons in the metropolis, and 100 in 

 the City of Churches. On the North and East Rivers about 50 scows 

 are employed receiving oysters from the vessels arriving from these 

 various bays, and from these boats about 3,000,000 oysters are daily 

 shipped throughout the country. Five hundred sailing-vessels are em- 

 ployed in this vicinity, which number includes every thing from a 

 sail-boat to a schooner of 150 tons. A corps of 5,000 men is engaged 

 in planting and bringing to market, who earn on an average from three 



1 For some of the facts cited above, and in a few paragraphs immediately following, 

 I am indebted to an able article in the Brooklyn Eagle, the date of which I cannot 

 tell. S. L. 



