OF MASSACHUSETTS. 143 



from Virginia, worth perhaps $5,000 when sold, form the total active busi- 

 ness. The oyster fleet, however, remains, though greatly diminished, and 

 carrying its cargoes to Boston, Portland and elsewhere, instead of bringing 

 them to be laid down in the home harbor. It will be long before Wellfleet, 

 and its neighbor, Provincetown, lose the prestige of old custom as oyster 

 carriers. 



(3) Oyster Raising. — In 1876 the first attempt to raise oysters from 

 " seed " at Wellfleet, is said to have been made by E. P. Cook, who 

 obtained a grant from the town of about 30 acres, on which were 

 planted 500 bushels of " seed " from Somerset, Mass. The " Oyster- 

 man " of Dee. 20, 1906, gives the following account of oyster planting 

 at Wellfleet : — 



In 1876 our informant, Mr. E. P. Cook, conceived the idea that these 

 waters could grow " seed " oysters as well as fatten big stock. He went 

 to Somerset, Mass., and got a carload of 500 bushels and planted them. 

 A few had previously been planted but with ill success. The people laughed 

 at him for dumping his good money overboard. He was the first man to 

 lease a piece of oyster ground from the State, and of course had his pick, 

 which was 600 feet on the shore next to the Silver Spring, the original spot 

 of the natural rocks. Mr. Cook here showed his acumen as a culturist. The 

 next spring they had made a remarkable growth, and all had lived. Then 

 there was a stampede of the fellows who laughed, to get some ground, too. 

 Soon every inch of available ground had been taken up. We mention the 

 following who took up plats: Solomon Higgins, I. C. Young, Benjamin 

 Oliver, Daniel Oliver, Edward Oliver, Cornelius Bogers, William Smith, S. B. 

 Bich, Theodore Brown, Stephen Young. These men did not all plant. The 

 next year Mr. Cook bought 500 bushels more, and now he had 1,000 bushels 

 on his grounds. These were two-year-old plants, and when they had laid 

 there three years he sold these primitive beauties for $5 per barrel. Some 

 time after this he bought Mr. Bich's plot. Subsequently Mr. Cook sold 

 400 of his 600 feet to B. B. Higgins, the founder of the famous oyster- 

 packing house by that name. This same man bought the 200 feet of 

 Solomon Higgins. Now this house had 600 feet of shore ground. B. B. 

 Higgins was the first wholesaler with capital invested in the culture of the 

 Cape Cod oysters. Finally, this house absorbed all the ground Cook had. 

 Eight years after this the Wright & Willis firm came on the scene; that 

 period had elapsed since the first cargo of " seed " had been freighted here. 

 They bought the remainder of the Solomon Higgins grant. Then Mr. Cook 

 took out another grant below Smalley's Bar. Capt. Albert Harding and 

 Capt. D. A. Newcomb took out leases. In 1S92 Mr. Cook sold his lease to 

 the D. Atwood Company. Then Mr. Cook bought the Capt. Albert Harding 

 lease and sold the right to plant on it, the law then not allowing the lessee 

 to turn over the grant in toto. Then H. & B. Atwood became interested 

 here. About this time some friction between the planters and clammers 

 existed, but it should be remembered that the planters occupied only about 

 200 of the 2,400 acres involved in this dispute. Then it was that J. A. 

 Stubbs came on the stage of activity, and Mr. Cook secured a lease for this 

 wholesale concern. 



