OYSTER-INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 297 



The American oysters, like our own, do not prosper on every kind of 

 soil indiscriminately. In pure sand they do not fatten, and grow very 

 little ; in mud they contract an unpleasant taste, and also run the risk 

 of being smothered ; but in mixed soils of sand and mud they develop 

 to an astonishing degree, especially when the water is slightly salt.* 



These artificial deposits, called oyster-beds, are necessarily formed in 

 accordance with circumstances which vary with the locality. Some- 

 times ground is used which is constantly -under water. Sometimes, 

 on the contrary, as at Boston, Wellfleet, and New Haven, the beds are 

 exposed for several hours each day, and only covered at high-tide. 



The most favorable places are those situated in bays, creeks, and the 

 mouths of rivers in which the tide rises, but the bottoms of which are 

 not shifting; in estuaries or arms of the sea; in salt ponds; in short, 

 in all places so sheltered that there is no fear that the waves of the ocean 

 will wash away the deposits. The action of currents, if not too strong, 

 is not considered injurious. The maximum depth at which the oysters 

 are planted is from twelve to fifteen feet at low tide; but more commonly 

 the beds are only four or five feet below the surface of the water, which 

 is preferable, as the oysters can be taken up more readily. 



The most important plantations are in the vicinity of the large centers 

 of population ; but with the facilities for transportation which exist in 

 the United States they are found on all parts of the coast.t 



Whatever may be the locality chosen by the planters, they can in no 

 case pursue their industry on the natural banks of oysters,! the common 

 property of the people, or in any way interfere with the free exercise of 

 navigation. These conditions complied with, every facility is generally 

 afforded them by law ; but in some States, before commencing opera- 

 tions, a license must be obtained from the civil authorities of the mari- 

 time district in which they are to be located. 



The limits of plantations are marked by slender poles inserted in the 



* Oysters planted, iu tidal rivers, or in ponds of brackish water, fatten and grow 

 very rapidly, but are characterized by a more insipid taste than those cultivated in 

 purely salt water. 



tin the vicinity of New York the principal plantations are upon the shores of Staten 

 Island, particularly at Prince Bay, in the East River; in the Harlem River and Shrews- 

 bury inlet, &c. At New Haven they are numerous in the bay, and at the mouth of 

 the Quinipiac. At Boston the most celebrated are established upon the projecting 

 shores of Bird Island and Hog Island, as well as in certain parts of the Saint Charles 

 and Mystic Rivers. 



t By a natural bank, we mean a conglomeration of mollusca presenting a character 

 of continuity, constituting what is usually called an oyster-bed. The natural bank 

 may be single or formed of several small banks, separated by greater or less spaces, but 

 always sufficiently connected to be considered parts of one whole. As to places where, 

 through accidental circumstances, isolated oysters have developed, they are not classed 

 among the natural beds, since, if this were the case, the largest part of the submarine 

 soil of the coast would be under interdiction and oyster culture would bo impossible. 

 However protective the American laws may be in what concerns public property, they 

 are careful not to interfere with private enterprise by a too rigorous interpretation of 

 the term public property. 



