310 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



of the City Wharf, a part of the harbor specially reserved as a depot for 

 fishing- boats. It is a building consisting of but one room, about twelve 

 yards wide and ten deep, and the interior arranged with reference to the 

 utmost economy of space. All round the apartment is a horizontal 

 stand, breast-high, and almost two yards wide, on which the oysters are 

 placed. At regular intervals a small square of wood, about an inch 

 thick, is nailed to the stand, which separates the places of the workmen, 

 and also serves as a convenient support for opening the oysters. The 

 men stand side by side, but not so close as to interfere with each other's 

 movements. They use a peculiar knife, consisting of a thin blade of 

 steel, with a very sharp point and a round wooden handle. When a 

 workman opens an oyster he takes it in his left hand, places it upon the 

 small square of wood, the part opposite to the hinge facing him, pierces 

 the edge of the shell with the sharp point of the knife, so that he can 

 introduce the blade between the valves, then cuts the muscle, takes out 

 the flesh, and throws it into a tin measure at his side. 



A skillful workman can open eighteen oysters in a minute. I have 

 nowhere seen work executed so rapidly ; and as the edge of the shell is 

 not broken, there is very little debris mingled with the oysters. As the 

 supplies of oysters diminish upon the stand they are renewed by persons 

 detailed for the purpose. As to the shells, each man throws them into 

 a cask placed at his right hand, which, when filled, he carries to the 

 door of the apartment, and empties on the public road. 



Wages are 10 cents a gallon for the oysters without the shells. In 

 winter, skillful workmen can earn as much as $3 a day when the oysters 

 are of medium size; the small ones require much more time.* Six or 

 seven hundred men are employed auuually, and most of them are also 

 engaged upon the plantations of the bay. 



The work of packing, of closing the barrels and tin cases, and of re- 

 packing in boxes, with a receptacle for ice, &c, is carried on in every 

 respect as at Fair Haven.t 



Mr. Higgins keeps the oysters until the time for packing in double 

 cases of zinc, containing from 50 to 60 gallons, and pieces of ice are 

 mixed with them. In winter the establishments for transportation are 

 supplied as at Fair Haven. 



Baltimore. — Baltimore is the most important of all the cities engaged 

 in the oyster-trade, as far as regards interior and foreign transporta- 

 tion. In fact, no other city of the Union is as advantageously situated 

 for the business. In consequence of its position, on a navigable river 



*The principal markets are in the cities of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, 

 and Canada, especially Quebec and Montreal. 



tFor short distances, during the warm season, it is customary to use tin vessels 

 somewhat like our milk- cans. The oysters are placed in these, mixed with pieces of 

 ice, which keep them fresh until they reach their destination. The merchants of Bos- 

 ton are in constant communication with the merchants of the neighboring cities, from 

 whom they receive daily cans marked with the names and address of their owners, 

 and they are immediately returned, filled with oysters. When they arrive the oysters 

 are again pat upon ice, and must be consumed within three days. 



