196 [Senate 



must not be killed for food while feeding upon horse-feet, as the flesh 

 tastes rank and fishy, and it requires many weeks and a change of food 

 to remove it. 



Shell-fish. — Oysters and clams are also taken in abundance in the 

 waters around the island, and likewise tend to withdraw the attention 

 of the inhabitants from the cultivation of the land. Oysters are rak- 

 ed in deep water on the north, the west and the south sides of the 

 island. Clams are dug with the hoe or clam rake at low tide on the 

 sandy shores and muddy bottoms of the south side. Very large ones 

 are taken in deeper water with oyster rakes or longs, off the southern 

 shores, as well as in Staten-Island sound. 



The planting and raising of oysters has become an extensive and 

 lucrative trade. With the increase of the city of New-York, the 

 demand has been so great that the beds where they originally existed 

 have been raked and scraped until they are nearly exhausted in the 

 vicinity of that city. Hence a supply has been sought in the south, 

 and oysters from Virginia are imported in great quantities, but they 

 are not so good as those growing in the colder waters of the Atlan- 

 tic coast of New-York. To obviate this objection, they are brought 

 from the Bay of Norfolk in the spring, planted on the south side of 

 Staten-Island, and again raked up in the autumn, improved in size 

 and flavor, A number of large schooners are employed in the oys- 

 ter trade between Staten-Island and Virginia; while smaller ves- 

 sels ])ly between the oyster beds and the New-York market, to dis- 

 pose of the fruits of the labor of a numerous class of men engaged 

 in the business. 



A portion of the oyster raking and planting is confined to the wa- 

 ters of the island. In the months of March and April, hundreds of 

 flat-bottomed row-boats or skiffs, are seen the whole length of Staten- 

 Island sound, raking oysters, many of which are mere spawn attach- 

 ed to stones and shells, and are not larger than the thumb nail. These 

 are taken to the south side and planted as those from Virginia, in the 

 neighborhood of Prince's bay, or in other parts of the waters of Ra- 

 ritan bay or Amboy sound, where they thrive and grow sufficiently 

 to become saleable in one season. 



METEOROLOGY. 



The husbandman must be observant of the weather. Meteorolo- 

 gy, therefore, becomes to him a study and an important part of his 

 knowledge. Much of it is to be gained by one's own observation, 

 some from other persons, some from instruments, as the thermome- 

 ter and barometer, &c. some from the almanac and some from local 

 causes. 



In Loudon's Encyclopedia of Agriculture, general rules are de- 

 duced from a long series of observations, prognosticating the state 

 of the weather by the changes in the moon. These, though true 

 in general, are not invariably correct. For instance, it is said that 

 when the change of the moon takes place near midnight, in all pro- 

 bability the ensuing quarter will be fine weather; when near to mid- 

 day the reverse. These and the other rules there laid down can only 

 be observed with the aid of an almanac, and then they cannot beim- 



