THE OYSTER-INDUSTRY. 7 



except ill tlie cbaunel tliiit leads to the whai'ves of tlie fort. The whole sandy bottom of this bay is described as 

 formerly one vast oyster-bed. At the upper eud it was so shallow that, when the tide was out, even ehildreu might 

 wade about and pick up oysters, which were often found clinging to the eel-grass, with their hands; such oysters 

 were the best of all. Fiually, the head of the bay became so choked up, that in the winter, at low tide, the ice 

 was let down until it rested full weight upon the beds. But now the bay has lost its ancient suitability as a 

 home for the bivalves, and few remain. " Bedeque" oysters, therefore, like those of the once-celebrated " Poricr" 

 bed at Shediac, now come from elsewhere, but still pass in the market under the brand-name by which they attained 

 their fame for excellence. The chief source of supply at present is Richmond bay, an inlet on the north shore 

 formed by the union of several estuaries and filled with islands and sand-bars. That region, however, has many 

 subdivisions. It consists of a great, irregular, interior basin of shallow water, sending its arms back into the country 

 in all directions, and receiving long, wooded capes that jut out and form sheltered bays in great number. The 

 water-access from the ocean to this lake is through Malpequc bay and the Narrows. The term "Richmond bay" is 

 really restricted to the innermost part of it, while the western portion is called Grand river. The shores are low, 

 the bottom is soft, sandy mud, and no force of the outside storms ever penetrates these calm recesses. Here then, 

 if anywhere, ought we to find oysters, and here they occur in vast numbei-s. 



The people who live on the shores of this broad estuary are of varied nationality, and nearly all own farms, or 

 cultivate the land for others. They may therefore be called farmers, as a class. But in the spring for a little while, 

 and from the first of September until Xovember seals the water under its icy cover, they all become oystermen. 

 A few of them own small sail-boats, two-masted or sloop-rigged, worth from $30 to $50, and of far more use than 

 beauty. As a rule, however, they go out to the beds in rude, flat bottomed, square-sterned, awkward boats, called 

 "flats". These are worth 810 each, and every fiimily owns at least one, with its oars and the anchor. Rakes or 

 dredges are not used at all here ; only- a pair of tongs, worth about 82 50. It does not require much capital, 

 therefore, to enter upon the business.* 



Oyster fishing begins on September 1 and lasts until the ice forms. On this island no fishing through the ice is 

 practiced, and all that is done, with the exception of a few days in the spring, must be done at once. During this 

 season, therefore, all else is pretty much abandoned, and four or five hundred persons will be found engaged in the 

 work in the western half of the island; it is considered a good day's work when a boat brings home in the evening 

 two barrels to each of the crew. In so sheltered a place as Richmond bay the state of the weather, which is likely 

 to be very rainy, chilly, and uncertain, makes little diSerence with the work. 



About one-half of the fishermen are heads of lamilies, the other half being made up of boys and young unmarried 

 men, and the vagabond element. Some of the more well-to-do farmers buy on the shore the catch of the latter class, 

 to a considerable extent, and add it to their own stock, paying from 50 to 80 cents a barrel on the shore. The 

 main part of the catch, however, is hauled day by day to Summerside, from 2 to 10 miles distant, at an expense of 

 from 10 to 15 cents a barrel, and sold to the warehouses there. Sometimes the Summerside dealers go out to the 

 shore and buy, but more frequently procure what is not brought to their doors, by sending out empty barrels to 

 different persons and engaging them to be filled. The barrels used are second-hand flour barrels, worth 15 to 20 

 cents, and holding two and a half bushels, or from three to four hundred oysters each. The price paid for these 

 oysters varies from year to year. The highest rate ever reached was in 1875, when 82 50 per barrel was paid at 

 the warehouse. Since then, partly owing to the stimulus given by the high price, and the consequent increased 

 supply, the price has declined, until this September (1879) it went as low as 80 cents a barrel, but recovered before 

 the end of the month to $1, which may be called the average price. A stormy season will lessen the supply and 

 augment the value. Little distinction is made by the warehousemen in buying in respect to locality, but in selling 

 it is found that the fine single oysters from Grand river will bring a considerable advance over those from Malpequo 

 and other points- The rule is : the deeper the water, the better the oyster. It is conceded that the old Bedeque 

 oyster was the best of all. 



With the fall crop of oysters the farmer-fishermen exjjcct to pay for their winter's supply of provisions, chiefly 

 flour. But little cash, therefore, is used in the transaction, the buyer exchanging a barrel of flour for from five to 

 seven barrels of oysters. The average receipts of the oyster-fishermen are difiQcult to estimate; but those best 

 competent to judge thought that the men who paid strict attention to the business received from $50 to 870 a year 

 from it. This may be put down as about one-fourth of their total annual income. The working classes on the 

 island think they are doing very well if they make 8300 a year. Every one of them is a year in debt. "When the 

 warehouseman delivers his flour in exchange for the oysters, it is really the crop of the next fall that he is buying, 

 for the oysters he has just received were owed to him for the i)revious winter's provisions. It is so with all the 

 mercha-.ts in town, who obtain a good portion of the season's catch for their own use, in pay for dry-goods, 

 groceiies, &c. 



The amount of cash capital involved in the business of oyster-dealing, therefore, is disproportionate to the 

 apparent business done, since so great a part of it is by barter. In the vicinity of Summerside it is probably within 



' Thf dredge Las uever, to my knowledge, been employed hi the waters of Piiuce Edward island. Oysters are li.shed with " tongs " 

 from depths varying from 3 or 4 feet to 12, and even 15, feet. — Pope. Letter to Whitcavcs, Ctuiadiaii yaturalist, vii, 345. 



