The Rise And Decline Of The Ol^mpia Oyster 



EXTENT OF DEVELOPMENT 



This system of diking increased the production of oys- 

 ters very rapidly. Practically all oyster culturists 

 adopted it. In the summer season when the tides were out 

 in the day time, Oyster Bay, Mud Bay, Oakland Bay and 

 Little Skookum were alive with diking activities. The 

 areas where oysters thrived in their natural state were 

 greatly expanded. The Olympia Oyster Co., The Olympia 

 Oyster Investment Co., the J. J. Brenner Oyster Co., and 

 some of the smaller growers carried this work into the 

 winter, even though the work had to be done at night, 

 as the tides in winter only go out far enough at night. 

 Through the years the oyster areas were expanded until 

 there was a total of approximately four hundred acres 

 of oyster land under dike. 



DIFFICULTIES IN CONSTRUCTION. 



It is difficult to comprehend the great amount of 

 work done, and the length of time it took. The dike work 

 was slow, as it had to be done by hand labor at low tide. 

 The tides only permitted from four to six hours each day 

 of construction. Then the material for the next day's 

 work had to be prepared, loaded on floats and taken out 

 on high tide. From fifty to one hundred feet of dike per 

 day, depending on the height of the dike and length of 

 the tide, was a good day's work for four men. In later 

 years some machinery was used by the Olympia Oyster 

 Co. and others of the larger companies, who developed 

 machines on large floats with drag lines and scrapers, 

 and loaded the fill mud onto large dump scows. Other 



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