THE OYSTER-INDUSTRY. 39 



Though seed tateu from the natural beds in our rivers does ■well when planted in other localities, the restrietions upon taking them 

 placed by the town-authorities, and 10 cents per bushel to be paid the town, prevent their being used to any great extent. No Virginia 

 oysters have been i)lauted here for several years past, -with the exception of a small cargo I brought from there last year, hoping to obtain 

 spawn from them in course of time ; they seem to be doing well ; no oysters to any extent are opened for sale. Those sent to Boston last 

 year brought |5 per barrel at the railroad station. The greater quantity of oysters sold last year were to peddlers, at $1 per bushel on the 

 shore, who disposed of them in the adjacent towns. From the best information I can get, I think about 7,000 bushels were marketed from 

 this town the past year, paying to the producers about $10,000. Very little money is paid out for labor ; planters do their own work, 

 and what help is needed can be got for 15 cents per hour. The prospect for much business next year does not look encouraging. No seed, 

 to any great extent, has been planted for the past two years. I have quite a large quantity growing, but can form no correct estimate of 

 how many. I shall continue planting the ensuing year, if I can procure seed th.at will not cost over iJ5 cents per bushel, planted. I expect 

 to bring some young oysters from the Great Wicomico river, Virginia, to plant here. I think they will do well if caught in shoal-water, 

 and are young and thrifty. I have oysters planted there, but cannot yet tell how successful they will prove. 



The greatest drawback to complete success of the business here, has been the lack of uniformity in quality from year to year. Much 

 of the ground upon which our oysters are planted has too little water upon it at low tide ; the oysters freeze in the winter, or are killed 

 by the ice resting upon them. It is also impossible to catch them for market just when they bring the best prices. The most destructive 

 enemy to our oyster-beds is a small mollusk, here called the " borer " or " white snail" ; it drills a small hole through the shell directly 

 over the "eye" of tho oyster, causing its death. Some beds, particularly where the bottom is hard, are completely destroyed by them. 

 The periwinkle also is very destructive to large oysters ; one will destroy at least a bushel in a season. There are but few starfishes. 

 Kespectfully yours, 



A. SAVERY, C. E. 



Oyster-beds in Sippecan hakboe, Wing's cove, and Weeweantit river. — Southwesterly from Wareham 

 the head of Buzzard's bay contains several oyster-localities of varying importance. They are : The Weeweantit 

 river, for a mile or so in the neighborhood of the highway bridge; Wing's cove, and the Blankinship cove of 

 Sippecan harbor, in the town of Marion. 



In the Weeweantit natural beds of very good oysters have existed for a long time, and a few years ago a 

 large yield was obtained from them every year by Mr. Eobinson and others. Latterly, however, the quantity 

 has decreased, and the beds have been raked almost whoUy for the sake of seed. There are grants here, but no 

 improvement, as yet, of any consequence. 



In Sii)pecan harbor (the harbor of Marion) it is said that no oysters were known until about fifteen years ago 

 (1864), wlum the shore of Ram island, on the eastern side of the harbor, near the entrance, was found strewn with 

 young oysters, and the next year it was ascertained that these had lived and were growing. The whole cove rapidly 

 filled, and at once began to be taken by the inhabitants in large quantities. 



Oyster-culture in Sojierset. — Some gentlemen, in 1875, got permission of the town to plant oysters on 

 the bar at the entrance of the harbor, and brought a large quantity of seed -oysters from Somerset, Massachusetts, 

 to lay down there. Taking the hint, the town surveyed a fringe of grants aronnd the whole harbor, which were 

 rapidlj' secured by the citizens for purposes of culture. The first design was that all owning grants should seed 

 them from abroad, leaving the natural beds in Blankinship cove and all the channels as public domain. But this 

 was done to a very small extent, the natural beds being raked and dredged, instead, for oysters to be placed upon 

 the grants, until it seemed likely that no mollusks at all would be left upon the beds. Legislative measures, both 

 of state and town, were brought forward for oyster-protection, but with little avail, as restrictive measures had 

 small support from public opinion, and now there is little attempt to restrain any one fishing to any extent. It is 

 reported by some, as a consequence, that few oysters are left, while others say that there are as many oysters 

 there now as ever. Meanwhile, those who had planted were not encouraged. The best grants lay in favorable 

 spots, where the oysters had shallow water, a hard bottom, and quick tide, only lacking fresh water. One gentleman 

 has planted about twelve thousand bushels, and has put down six to eight thousand empty shells, hoping to catch 

 spawn ; but since these were put down there has been no year in which the spawn was plenty at Marion. (The last 

 good year for spawn in Wareham was 1877, in Somerset, 1878.) Both of these investments haA^e proved to be 

 losing ones. The oysters brought here from Somerset have grown pretty well in shell, but in meat are lean and 

 watery. Last August those of marketable size produced less than two solid quarts to the bushel. This fall (1879) 

 there has been an improvement, but a bushel does not ''open" more than three quarts. These facts are true, as a 

 rule, over the whole extent of the harbor, and in every instance the owners consider that they have lost money on 

 their investment, and that it is probable that no great success can be looked for in raising oysters at Marion, for 

 unexplained reasons. Even when they succeed in getting a fair quantity of oysters, they are not as hard and plump 

 as they ought to be, and will not sell in Boston market at prices which will repay the expense of their cultivation. 

 Among special discouragements may be mentioned the burying of two thousand bushels in one bed, on the outside 

 of Earn island bar, by a single gale during the winter of 1878, and the sudden death of several thousand bushels up 

 the harbor through anchor-frost. As a consequence, a large portion of the oysters which have been planted here 

 from Somerset have been taken up and sent to Providence river, where they have been rebedded with great success. 

 It may be that this will afford an opportunity for business, although planting will not succeed well. The seed can be 

 bought in Somerset and laid down here for about 35 cents a bushel. Two years later it can be sold to Providence 

 dealers for 75 cents. During these same years the natural beds near Ram island have flourished tolerably well, 

 although the large tracts of shells about the harbor have caught no spawn. They have not opened as much nor 

 of as good quality, however, as formerly ; but there are great differences in the oysters of even this limited area. 



