34 THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



I. Oysters were first found in Exeter river ciglit years ago by a government surveying vessel. Oysters were also known to be in 

 Durham river and at Nannie's island. I claim to bave found the beds in Great bay four years ago. It is my opinion that there are oyster- 

 rocks all the way down to Portsmouth, but the bottom is not suitable for dredging, which is the only way they could be taken after you 

 leave Great bay. 



II. For two years they were touged and dredged steadily through the summer-months by an average of 20 persons a day. Some days 

 70 to 80 men would be working. The average catch to a man that understood the business was 25 bushels. Wo could have caught more 

 by working more hours, but the supply was greater than the demand. We worked about six hours i)er day. 



III. The average catch now to a man is 3 bushels. A cause of the decline is that the marketable oysters have nearly all been caught. 

 There are to-day more in number of young oysters than ever before, but they are not yet of marketable value, being in size from a five-cent 

 piece to an old penny. If they are not properly protected they will die before they are suitable to use. An oyster needs cultivation and 

 protectiin. 



IV. Ten thousand bushels is a low estimate of what has been taken the four years I have been here. 



V. The oyster does not find a ready market, not being a profitable oyster for any trade at the price asked for it. There is too much 

 shell for the meat. They are a natural oyster, and no natural oyster this side of Sandy Hook finds a ready market, except for the purpose 

 of iilanting. For meat and flavor they are but little better than Newark bays. They need transplanting. 



VI. There has been no planting done here of Virginia or New York oysters. It would be no use to plant Virginia oysters here. They 

 would be winter-killed. New York natural or hardy oysters would live. There have been a few Virginias bedded from sjiring to fall 

 here, and they did better for the time they were overboard than oysters generally do in any water that I am acquainted with ; and I have 

 oystered in every state where oysters are worth catching — New Hampshire, Connecticut, Long Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, 

 Maryland, and Virginia — having done nothing else for 20 years, and having worked for the largest firms in New York. WiU send you 

 information any time you write for it. 



Yours, respectfully, 



A. T. TIBBETTS. 



As I have remarked in another place, I regard this body of water as a very promising field for testing whether, 

 with Prince Edward island, Somerset, or some other hardy seed, artificial propagation is not possible at even this 

 northern point. 



Statistical recapitulation — Great bay, Portsmouth, and Dover, New Hampshire : 



Number of wholesale dealers 3 



Number of men fishing in sunmier for natives 6 



Number of vessels and sail-boats engaged 5 



Value of same $300 



Number of restaurant servants 6 



Annual earnings of same $2,500 



Total number of persons supported ...... 25 



Annual sales of — 



I. Native oysters bushels.. 1,000 



Value of same $800 



II. Chesapeake "plants" bushels.. 7,000 



Value of same $7,000 



III. Fancy stock - bushels.. 800 



Value of same $1,000 



IV. Value of Norfolk "opened stock" $1,000 



Total value of oysters sold annually $9,800 



13. THE OYSTER-BUSINESS OP POETLAND, MAINE. 



History and methods. — No oysters are native at Portland, and the city is supplied directly from the Virginia 

 producers. The real beginning of the oyster-trade in Portland was made by James Freeman, about forty years 

 ago, and two ship-loads from the South, amounting to, say, 200 bushels a year, filled the demand of Portsmouth, 

 New Hampshire, and Portland together. Sometimes, also, a ship-load would be brought from Staten Island to 

 Wellfleet, on Cape Cod, and laid down, to be drawn upon during the summer. It was not until a few years ago 

 that four merchants began to charter a vessel or vessels to run south and bity oysters, to be divided between them, 

 each firm contributing its quota of purchase-money and expenses in proportion to its share of the cargo. 



From 18G9 to 1875, the following amount of oysters were thus brought in : 



BushelB. 



May, 1869, to May, 1870 33,369 



May, 1870, to May, 1871 49,906 



May, 1871, to May, 1872 57,332 



May, 1872, to May, 1873 62.786 



May, 1873, to May, 1874 79,767 



May, 1874, to May, 1875 71,673 



From 1875 until the present, accurate statistics are not obtainable. The sum of the oysters now brought 

 to the city is believed to be 75,000 bushels a year. 



