0>^ster^ and tl)eir C^^ttivation. 



On the Atlantic coast of the United States we have but one species of oyster, 

 Ostrea virginiana ; and, unHke the European oyster, which inchides both sexes in the 

 same individual, our oysters are male and female, the sexes being separated. In 

 Long Island Sound, oysters spawn during May, June and July, although they have 

 been known to spawn at an earlier date under certain conditions. 



According to Dr. Brooks, an average oyster produces 16,000,000 eggs annually, 

 while a large individual may produce 60,000,000. Dr. H. F. Moore, who has made a 

 scientific study of the oyster and its habits, says: "Notwithstanding the great fecun- 

 dity of the indi\idual oyster, the reproductive power of the beds is not so vast as it is 

 generally supposed. If the oysters are scattered or the number spawning at a given 

 time is small, most of the genital matter will be wasted, as the contact of the male 

 and female cells is entirely dependent upon chance, and the fewer such cells there are 

 in a given body of water the smaller the probability of their meeting and fusing in 

 the manner constituting the act of fertilization. Neither the eggs nor the spermatozoa 

 live long after they are discharged from the parent, and if fertilization is to take 

 place at all, the two elements must be brought into contact promptly ; and it will be 

 seen, therefore, that nature must supply a vast number of germ cells to insure the 

 survival of but few. Not only the time of spawning but the quantity of spawn, 

 appears to be afTected by the weather conditions. Sudden changes produce very 

 marked results, and a transfer of the oyster from one place to another during the 

 spawning season is almost certain to interfere with reproduction or even absolutely 

 arrest it." Oysters lixe in waters of widely differing temperature, from freezing to 

 90'^ Fahr., and with saline qualities ranging from 1.002 to 1.025, that of Long Island 

 Sound being about 1.022. The food of the oyster is both animal and vegetable in 

 minute particles, and they tle\our their own eggs anil fry. This article is written chiefly, 

 however, to give those li\ing at a distance from the seashore something of an idea of 

 how this shellfish is cultivated, as it constitutes such an important part of our food 

 supply. There is a prevailing belief, I find, in the interior of the State, among the 

 comparative few who give the matter thought, that oysters abound in salt water and 

 the oysterman has only to find them and drag them from the bottom and bring them 

 to market; but oysters have to be cultivated as much as any other crop, and more 

 than some crops ; and the o}-ster business is an industry requiring capital, application 

 and skill, to make it a success, just the same as is required in any other great industry. 

 The natural oyster beds of this State are a thing of the past, as a rule. Occasionally 



