29 -THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF 



GEORGIA. 



BY A. OEMLER, M. D. 



We have but one species of oyster (Ostrea virginiana) on the coast of Georgia, but 

 the shape and quality varies with the food and with the conditions which surround 

 each individual. When found in large masses above ordinary low watermark, bordering 

 the marshes of rivers and creeks, it assumes the "coon" or "razor- blade" type, growing 

 vertically, long, thin, and very sharp, like trees too crowded in a forest; a veritable 

 illustration of a contest for the survival of the fittest. The usual width of these coon 

 oyster ledges is from 8 to 10 feet, but the nearer to the sea we find them, or the greater 

 the salinity of the water, the broader they become, reaching in some cases near the 

 line of ordinary high water. As further consequences of the higher density, the 

 oysters remain of poor quality later in the season, not improving in dry seasons until 

 November, and spawning later than those situated in water of a lower degree, or 

 approaching the standard of 1-0140, and better adapted to the American oyster, 

 which is strictly a brackish water mollusk. The density of the water over the ledges 

 in the lower creeks and rivers in South Carolina ranges between 1-0214 and 1-0250. 



Not being constantly submerged the deposit of mud on these coon oysters is slight, 

 and that is removed by the action of sun and wind, hence they form clean collectors 

 for an annually heavy set, producing a very crowded condition of living oysters with 

 no room to grow laterally. When, however, a full set occurs on a planted, clean 

 shell, the development is in all directions, the cluster sometimes breaking apart from 

 the pressure of its own growth, and the shape and quality is better. Finally when a 

 spat or two finds lodgment on a small object, or on a partially clean shell, we have 

 the ideal single oyster to be enjoyed on the half shell. If oysters drop from these 

 coon ledges near the sea into the stream below the line of low water, they usually 

 perish, hence we find here no rocks or beds of oysters in mid rivers or creeks; but 

 when this occurs from ledges not in so close proximity to the ocean, these "dropped 

 off" oysters improve in form and quality, and here beds occur beyond the shore sus 

 tained by annual sets. The drill ( Urosalpinjc cinerea), the only enemy of the coon oyster 

 in our waters, is found in these locations with greatest density, but not in such 

 numbers as to account for the destruction. This difference in the life-history of 

 specimens of the same species is evidently attributable to the difference in density, 

 the American oyster not being able to survive and prosper in water of great salinity. 



From my earliest childhood, I can remember the great abundance of oysters in 

 Chatham County, and one of my earliest memories is, seeing my grandfather, a Revo- 

 lutionary patriot, eating roasted oysters and sweet potatoes at my present home on 

 Wilmington Island. With the exception of ten years in Germany, I have resided 



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