96 THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The ordinary way in the East river and elsewhere, is simply to let the bed remain quiet, until, in the course 

 of three or foiu- years, such oysters as have survived are large enough to sell, when the bed is worked — at first, 

 probably, with tongs and i-akes, getting up the thickest of the crop. This done, dredges are put on, and 

 everything that remains — oysters, shells, and trash — is removed and the ground left clean, ready for a second 

 shelling, or to be planted with seed, perhaps right away — perhaps after the area has lain fallow, exposed uncovered 

 to the influences of the sea for a year. Oystermen have an idea (probably well founded, though badly theorizeil 

 upon) that this improves the bottom for oyster-culture, as much as a similar rest would the soil of an upland field 

 for agriculture. 



In the process of growth of the young oysters lodged upon the fields of cultch, when left undisturbed, there is, 

 and must of necessity be, a great waste under the most favorable circumstances. Leaving out all other adversities, 

 this will arise from over- crowding. More " blisters " attach themselves upon a single egg than can come to maturity. 

 One or a few will obtain au accession of growth over the rest, and crowd the others down, or overlap them 

 fatally. Even if a large number of young oysters attached to a single stool do grow up together equally, their close 

 elbowing of one another wiU probably result in a close, crabbed bunch of long, slim, unshapely samples, of no value 

 save to be shucked. To avoid these misfortunes, and, having got a large quantity of young growth, to save as 

 much as possible of it, the more advanced and energetic of the planters, like the Hoyts, of o^orwalk, pursue the 

 foUowing plan : When the bed is two years old, by which time all the young oysters are of sufficient age and 

 hai'diness to bear the removal, coarse-netted dredges are put on, and all the bunches of oysters are taken up, 

 knocked to pieces, and either sold as "seed", or redistributed over a new i)ortion of bottom, thus widening the 

 planted area, and at the same time leaving more room for those single oysters to grow which have slipped through 

 the net and so escaped the dredge. The next year after, all the plantation, new and old, is gone over and suitable 

 stock culled out for trade, three-year-old East river oysters beiug in demand for the European market. This 

 further thins out the beds, and the following (fourth) year the main croj) of flue, well-shaped, well-fed oysters will 

 be taken, and during the succeeding summer, or perhaps after a year, the ground will be thorougldy well cleaned 

 UX>, and prepared for a new shelling. 



All these remarks apply to a reasonably hard bottom, which requires no previous preparatiou. In portions of 

 Long Island sound, especially oft' New Haven, it has been needful to make a crust or artificial surface njiou the mud 

 before laying down the shells. This is done with sand, and has been alluded to in the chapter on New Haveu 

 harbor. 



Just what makes the best lodgment for oyster-spawn intended to be used as seed, has been greatly discussed. 

 Oyster-shells are very good, certainly, and as they are cheap and almost always at hand in even troublesome 

 quantities, they form the most available cultch, and are most generally used. Small gravel, however, has been 

 tried on parts of the Connecticut coast with great success, the advantage being that not often more than one or two 

 oysters would be attached, and therefore the evil of bunchiness would be avoided. Where scallop shells, as in 

 Narraganset bay, or, as in northern New Jersey, mussels and jingles, Anomia, can be procured in sufficient 

 quantities, they are undoubtedly better than anything else, because tJjey not only break easily in culling, but are so 

 fragile that- the strain of the growth of two or more oysters attached to a single scallop or mussel-valve, will oftcTi 

 crack it in pieces, and so iiermit the several members of the bunch to sejiarate and grow into good shape, singly. 

 I am not aware that any of the elaborate arrangements made in France and England for catching and preserving 

 the spat have ever been imitated here, to any practical extent. The time will come, no doubt, when we shall be 

 glad to profit by this foreign example and experience. 



Although the efibrt to propagate oysters by catching drifting spawn wpoin prepared beds has been tried nearly 

 everywhere, from Sandy Hook to Providence, it has only, in the minority of cases, perhaps I might say a small 

 minority of cases, proved a profitable undertaking to those engaging in it; and many planters have abandoned the 

 process, or, at least, calculate but little upon any prepared beds, in estimating the probable income of the prospective 

 season. This arises from one of two causes: 1st. The failure of spawn to attach itself to the cultch ; oi-, 2d. In case 

 a "set" occurs, a subsequent death or destruction. 



The supposition among oystermen generally has been, that the water everywhere upon the coast was filled, 

 more or less, with drifting oyster-spat during tlie spawning-season, whether tliere was any bed of oysters in the 

 immediate neighborhood or not; in other words, that there was hardly any limit to the time and distance the spat 

 would drift with the tides, winds, and currents. I think that lately this view has been modified by most fishermen, 

 and I am certain it greatly needs modification; but, as a consequence of the opinion, it was believed that one place 

 was as good as another, so long as there was a good current or tideway there to spread shells for spawn, whether 

 there were any living oysters in proximity or not. Cut that this view was fallacious, and that many acres of shells 

 have never exhibited a single oyster, simply because there was no spat or soiu'ces of spat in their vicinity, there is no 

 reason to doubt. 



Having learned this, planters began to see that they must place with or near their beds of shells, living 

 mother-oysters, called "spawuers", which should supply the desired spat. This is done in two ways, either by 

 laying a narrow bed of old oysters across the tideway iu the center of the shelled tract, so that the spawn, as it is 



