302 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



It lias sometimes happened that good results have followed the 

 sowing of spat-covered shells purchased from the canneries, but this 

 method is precarious unless the shells are used in the process of spat- 

 collecting to be explained hereafter. 



The locality whence the seed is derived is also important. Oysters 

 taken from a warm region, where food is plenty and growth rai^id, to a 

 colder region, where food is more scanty, are, it is stated, not always 

 successfully acclimated unless the transfer is made when the oyster is 

 very young. Some planters say that when southern oysters just about 

 to spawn are taken to Long Island Sound, the generative products are 

 not discharged and many of them die in the course of the season. The 

 seed obtained from southern " plants,-' however, is as hardy as that 

 obtained from the "natives," from which it can not be distinguished in 

 either appearance or growth. The planting of southern seed oysters 

 was formerly an important industry in Long Island Sound, but it has 

 been almost entirely supplanted by shell culture. Each spring a com- 

 j)aratively small number of Chesapeake oysters are set down, as they 

 have been found to fatten earlier- in the fall than the native stock. 

 There is no complaint of excessive mortality among the "Virginia 

 plants," and it is claimed that they sjjawu freely in summer even if 

 bedded in the preceding spring. 



SOWING THE SEED. 



The seed oysters are usually scattered over the beds from boats or 

 scows. Care should be exercised to get them as equally distributed as 

 l^ossible, as experience has shown this to be advantageous to their 

 growth. When thrown into heaps many are prevented from getting a 

 proper supi)ly of food, and the crowding may also cause irregularities 

 in the shape of the shells, thus reducing their market value. 



In order to secure a proper distribution over a bed, it may be roughly 

 marked out into areas, say 50 feet square, in each of which an equal 

 amount of seed should be planted, by scattering it broadcast with 

 shovels or scoops from the boat or scow. In subdividing the bed a few 

 rough stakes or buoys may be used as temporary guides. 



Another method is to anchor the boat upon the bed, distribute the 

 required amount of seed over the area which can be reached by throw- 

 ing the oysters from a shovel, and then move on to the next station, 

 where the boat is again anchored and the operation repeated. When 

 the scow is emptied a buoy or stake maybe used to mark the position of 

 the last deposit, and operations can be resumed from that j^oint with 

 the next boat load. By such means the seed is rapidly and evenly 

 spread over the bottom. 



In i)lauting on extensive beds where steam power is used the seed is 

 distributed from scows, which are slowly towed back and forth, while a 

 gang of 8 or 10 men shovel the oysters overboard as rapidly as i:>ossible. 

 That is the most rapid and economical method, and is the one usually 

 employed on the deep-water grounds of Long Island Sound. 



