OYSTER-INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 291 



parties and balls, invariably making its appearance toward morning, to 

 repair the exhausted forces of the dancers. 



The American oyster, when cooked, is certainly superior to ours, and 

 as it preserves its nutritive properties better during the process, it is 

 highly regarded by physicians as an article of food for convalescent pa- 

 tients. Many persons eat them throughout the year without experienc- 

 ing any injurious effects. On this point I would hazard an observation, 

 which, it seems to me, has sufficient foundation. Fishing, during the 

 breeding season, is prohibited by law, so that all the oysters then sold 

 come from the plantations. Now, as these oysters were transported in 

 the month of April, a time when the process of generation commences 

 with them, it is very probable that this process was affected, and in 

 most cases arrested completely, by the fatigue of the voyage and the 

 change of medium. As under the circumstances they rarely become 

 spawn-bearers, they can hardly be injurious in the warm season, although 

 in their natural condition they would be positively unwholesome. 



The price of oysters for consumption varies greatly. It depends upon 

 their size, quality, the reputation of the plantations in which they are 

 cultivated, and the importance of the establishments in which they are 

 sold. At wholesale, they are about $1 a bushel ; while in the markets, 

 oyster-houses, &c, the price is higher, and varies from 50 cents to $2.50 

 for the largest size used in choice preparations. The merchants, intel- 

 ligent in all that concerns their profession, make many distinctions in 

 the value of the oysters, in order to derive as much profit as possible 

 from them ; and they well know how to take advantage of the taste of 

 their customers. Fresh oysters can be procured either in or out of the 

 shell in all the markets. In the latter condition they are generally sold 

 to restaurants, hotel-keepers, and families who buy them for immediate 

 consumption. 

 For exportation and transportation into the interior they are sold — 



1. In the natural condition 



2. Out of the shell ; 



3. Pickled; 



4. Canned. 



The oysters in shells are sent in great quantities into the interior 

 during the winter season. They are put in barrels about a quarter the 

 size of an ordinary flour-barrel, and tightly packed to prevent the open- 

 ing of their valves. These barrels have, at regular intervals, openings 

 for ventilation. 



Naked oysters, intended for the most part to be eaten cooked, are 

 sent into the interior during the entire year, but chiefly in winter. As 

 I have said, the cities of Baltimore, Boston, and Fair Haven are the 

 principal centers of the trade, and form the most important branch of 

 the oyster-industry.* 



Pickled oysters. — Pickled oysters are prepared, as in Europe, with an 



* Some persons eat these oysters raw, seasoning them with salt, pepper, and vinegar. 



