OYSTERS, CLAMS, AND OTHER MOLLUSKS 237 



the large steam vessels which operate six big dredges 

 simultaneously. When dredging for oysters, one or 

 more dredges are dragged behind the boat as it pro- 

 ceeds at reduced speed, until the dredges are thought 

 to be full; then they are hauled in and the contents 

 dumped on deck, where the oysters are sorted out of 

 the debris. 



Oysters are usually unloaded from the deck or 

 hold of the boat by means of bucket and hoist upon 

 the wharf, or directly into large steel wheelbarrows 

 in which they are conveyed into the oyster house. 

 In some of the larger houses the oysters are hoisted 

 into bins in the uppermost story of the building, from 

 which they are automatically carried by means of 

 conveyers to the culling and shucking benches. 



Oysters are sold both in the shell and as shucked 

 oysters. Whole oysters are sold for eating in the 

 half-shell. The shell trade demands the best oysters, 

 which must be carefully selected. American oysters 

 which have a good reputation because of their flavor 

 are the Blue Points, Cotuits, Maurice Rivers, Lynn- 

 havens, Chincoteagues, Cape Cods, and Rockaways. 

 Blue Point oysters are grown in Great South Bay 

 and take their name from Blue Point on its northern 

 shore. Blue Points are of medium saltiness and possess 

 a very delicate flavor. The usual Blue Point oyster is 

 small and well rounded. Cotuits, obtained in Cotuit 

 Harbor, Massachusetts, are larger and more pointed. 



The people of Philadelphia are the greatest con- 

 sumers of oysters in the world, although Baltimore 

 and New York are not far behind. "Oyster bars" dot 



