38 THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Savery on oyster-culture in "Wareham. — Since writing tlie above account I have received the follo^\ing 

 instructive communication relating to this region, which I am happy to give entire : 



East Wareham, Mass., January 29, 1830. 



Deab Sir : In order to answer understandiugly your inquiries respecting the oyster-business of Wareham, I find it necessary to give 

 you a condensed history of it. 



Oysters "row naturally in the two rivers of Wareham, the Waukinco and the Weeweantit. In the former the natural beds extend 

 from Wareham narrows, two miles above its month, about one mile up stream ; in the latter river, the natural beds extend over a distance 

 of about two miles. At low tide the water is about two feet deep on these beds, and the bottom is somewhat muddy. Spawn is deposited 

 on them every year to a greater or less extent. The oysters grow in clusters, are long and thin, the meat is watery, not firm and soUd, 

 though of pretty good flavor, and on the lower part of the beds, where the water at low tide retains its saltness, they do not attain great 

 size even when undisturbed, but soon die, and are succeeded by a new growth. Scattering oysters are found in the channels for about one 

 mile down stream, of fair size, firm meat, and good flavor, probably carried there when very small, by the current from the natural beds. 



Prior to 1840 the privilege of taking the oysters from these beds was leased to a Wellfleet company, and several thousand bushels 

 were carried to Wellfleet harbor, Massachusetts, and there plauted for the Boston market. About 1840, fearing that the natural beds 

 would be injured, the town annulled the contract with the Wellfleet company, and but few oysters, excex^t for the use of the inhabitants, 

 were taken from these beds for many years. In 1845, Peter Presho, of Wareham, got a grant from the legislature to plant oysters in a 

 cove at the upper part of Onset bay, an arm of Buzzard's bay, in East Wareham. He there planted a few hundred bushels of Waukinco 

 river oysters with good success, that is, they grew large, were well filled, and of excellent flavor. They did not increase in numbers, no 

 spawn seemed to come from them, nor were any small oysters seen on the adjacent shores. 



In 1855 I "■ot a license from the selectmen of Wareham, under the general state law, to plant oysters in Onset bay, adjoining and 

 above the Presho "rant. I brought from Rappahannock river, Virginia, "2,200 bushels of large oysters in the mouth of May, ))lanted them 

 on my f^rant, intending to market them the next fall. They did not arrive in very good condition, and what lived did not "fill" well, so 

 Isold but few, and let the rest remain on the grant. After the first year they "filled" well, and were of excellent quality. In a few 

 years young oysters began to catch on the shells and on the stones of the adjacent shores, so that people made a business of catching 

 oysters in that vicinity, and from my grant, for the home-market. I proposed planting again, but my busiuess taking me away from 

 Wareham, and the late war coming on, prevented my doing so. Young oysters continued to increase, and to be found on various parts 

 of the shores of Onset bay, mostly on the sand-bars, about low- water mark. They generally lived but one year, being killed by the winter. 



In 1865 I commenced gathering the young oysters early in the fall, and planting them from two to four feet deep, at low water. I 

 found that they did well, growing rapidly, and having an excellent flavor. In 1867 I canied some to the Parker House, Boston, and the 

 proprietors pronounced them as fine oysters as they had ever seen, and engaged all I had to sell; since which time I have furnished 

 Wareham oysters to the Parker House whenever they have been in suitable condition for their trade. I took care to secure and preserve 

 the spawn, placing shells and brush wherever I thought it likely to catch, and by 1869 had several thousand bushels growing finely. 

 On the 8th of September of that year, we had a severe southeasterly gale, which washed the sand from the shores and bars, covering the 

 oysters and destroying the greater portion of them. The water that was driven into our bay by that gale was uucommonly salt and 

 bitter, killing nearly all vegetation, even large trees, as far as it reached, and injured many wells. The oysters were seriously hurt 

 by it, and the next year were poor and very salt, hardly marketable. They did not fully recover from its etfects until 187-i. Many other 

 persons had by this time procured licenses, and commenced planting, getting their seed mostly from the Waukinco river and the shores 

 of Onset bay. Several cargoes of large Virginia oysters were planted in the spring, and taken up and sold in the fall, but this did not 

 prove profitable. Spawn now began to catch in various parts of Onset bay, in water from 10 to 12 feet deep at low water; I think this 

 came from the Virginia oysters; none has caught there since ; they have all been taken up. In one year I think at least 20,000 bushels 

 of seed, about one inch in diameter, were taken from Onset bay and planted elsewhere, some going to Providence river, and some to various 

 parts of Cape Cod. Nearly all the available shores of Wareham were by this time granted to ditferent persons for oyster-planting. 

 Seed-oysters at this time, from Onset bay, sold readily at from 50 ceftts to 75 cents per bushel, from the boats, and large oysters brought 

 from |5 to $9 per barrel, delivered at the railroad station. The business of growing oysters was profitable. The only limit seemed to be 

 in the size of the individual grants and the amount of capital invested. The grants were too small to do a large business, and no great 

 amount of money was invested in it. 



In 1875 Wareham oysters were poor, hardly marketable, and during the winter many died ; the next two years they were good, and 

 mine brought $7 50 per barrel ; in 1878 and 1879 they were very poor, and unsalable except to peddlers, at a low price. Last winter at 

 least one-half of our large oysters died. No seed of any consequence has been caught in Onset bay the past three years. I have tried to 

 find out why our oysters were so poor some years and good others, and my observations lead me to the following conclusions: Onset bay 

 has no fresh-water streams discharging into it other than small brooks, but on its shores are innumerable springs of fresh water, exuding 

 almost everywhere between high- and low-water mark. Near where the springs flow copiously, the oysters are the best. These springs 

 derive their supply from the rain that falls on the great wooded territory in Wareham and Plymouth, called "Plymouth woods ". In 1875 

 the springs were very low. The previous winter had been very cold, tbe ground freezing to a great depth, and the woods did not thaw 

 out until the last of May. All the water that fell, therefore, ran off the surface, and did not penetrate the ground to supply the springs. 

 The next winter was warmer, more rain fell, the springs filled, and oysters improved. Then occurred the great fires, destroying all 

 vegetation on thousands of acres of Plymouth woods, and leaving a sandy barren, where the rain that fell evaporated rapidly ; the ponds 

 in the woods shrank to a smaller compass than was ever known before, the swamps dried up, springs failed, many wells gave out entirely, 

 and the streams that furnish the water-power of Wareham were, and still are, lower than ever before, and oysters are poorer. I am confident 

 that, for the production of good oysters in this vicinity, a certain uniform supply of fresh water is required, springing directly from the 

 ground on which they are planted. It will not do to have the water vary in saltness ; if it does, though the shell may grow rapidly, the 

 meat is watery and flavorless. Oysters are seldom of good quality in brackish water, yet when taken from salt water and placed for a 

 short time in freshwater, they will grow plump, and improve, if not left too long. 



Oysters always feed on the flood-tide. Then the water seems cloudy, while on the ebb it is clear. I have often observed, that as soon 

 as the tide began to flow the oysters wouli slightly open their shells, the feathery edge of the mollusk could be seen protruding and iu 

 motion, apparently feeding. In raking oysters on the flood-tide they often catch on the teeth of the rake ; I never knew this to occur on 

 the ebb. Oysters throw off their spawn at the commencement of the flood-tide, hence it generally catches near low-water mark, and 

 up stream from the spawning-bed, except in rivers where there is always a downward flow. 



Their season for spawning here varies from the 1st of July to the 1st of September, according to the condition of the oyster and the 

 temperature of the water; the spawn in favorable situations grows rapidly. I have known a boat, with a perfectly clean bottom, anchored 

 over an oyster-bed, to have its bottom completely covered with oysters of over an inch in diameter in two weeks' time. 



