THE OYSTER-INDUSTRY. 115 



peculiar saltness of the meat render them better adapted for shipping than any others, and they are, therefore, used 

 ahiiost whollj' for the western trade. The boats employed in transporting them from the N"orth river and Newark 

 bay to the artificial beds are open, and are each generally manned by three or four men * # *. These men work 

 in sloops and skiffs owned by themselves. The owners of each boat are also proprietors of one or more beds planted 

 by themselves. There are about 200 boats, altogether, each of which is valued at an average of $800." 



Oyster intekests of Staten Island in 1853. — In reviewing the interests, during the same year, of the 

 south side of Staten Island, whence came the "Sound" oysters of the markets, the Herald estimated the business 

 as follows : 



From 150 to 200 men are employed in their cultivation, or in bringing them to market, an<l the value of the whole amount sold 

 (luring the year does not exceed §150,000. The boats used in trauspl.intiug and in transporting them to this city are sloops and skiiJ's, or 

 open boats, cacli being manned liy three or four hands. The average value of each boat is about ijidOO, and the whole amount of capit.al 

 invested in the sound-tr.ade, including boats and beds, m.ay be estimated at $250,000. 



It is added that one-third of all the seed planted at that time came out of the North river, from beds "which 

 extend at intervals from Piermont to Sing Sing", where the growth was said to be exceedingly quick and abundant, 

 but the oysters, especially those from the higher beds, of inferior quality, and wholly useless until transplanted.* 



Oyster-culture about Staten Island. — The home resources along the shores of Staten Island, in York 

 bay and the North river, having long ago been exhausted, or greatly depleted, the planters in Prince's bay and on 

 the Jersey shore now get "seed" oysters, with which to stock their beds, wherever they can. The chief source is 

 Newark bay and Earltan river, though the North and East rivers and Long Island sound are drawn npon. A 

 considerable quantity of seed is brought from as far away as Fair Haven and Blue Point. In most cases the planters 

 themselves gather what they use, by going after it in their own sloops, taking a small boat and a man to help. 

 There is no reason why they should know precisely the number of bushels they cull out of their tongs and carry- 

 home, or why they should endeavor to calculate its exact cost. It would be difdcult, therefore, for them to answer 

 precise questions as to how much they got, or what it cost them, let alone how much they had upon their beds at a 

 given time. For what they buy, from 30 to 40 cents a bushel was paid last season, to the many persons who made 

 a practice of catching seed to sell. I maj mention here an incidental custom. 



Whenever the tides are especially low, there is a hurried concourse of people along the shore to pick up the 

 raoUusks, old and young, disclosed by the retreating iiood, who work as far out as they possibly can. Such a 

 general turnout is an interesting sight and an important fact to the planters, many of whose beds are bounded on 

 the shoreward side by ordinary low-water mark. Though an extra low tide discloses grounds and beds of planted 

 oysters legally held, the eager populace regard it as no infringement to pick up from such planted grounds, whenever 

 they can reach them unobstructed. The truth is, this ground, occasionally exposed by the tide, is debatable 

 territory, and the planters find it prudent not to contest the matter, but to be especially vigilant over their property, 

 lest unscrupulous persons, of whom there are many, shall wade in to the beds and make a wholesale theft, under 

 excuse of low water. 



Oyster-culture at Keyport and Perth Amboy. — The seed usually gathered at Keyport and vicinity 

 grows on soft mud and in sedgy places, and hence is long, slender, crooked, and ill-shaped. It is roughly culled on 

 the boat, as soon as caught, and sold by the basket or bushel. Planted in from 10 to 15 feet depth of water, purer, 

 Salter, and upon a better bottom than before, it rounds out into good shape, and grows with considerable rapidity, in 

 good seasons. Tte best bottom is a thin layer of mud overlying sand, and the best time for planting is in March, 

 April, and May. As a total of the bushels of seed planted last spring, nothing better than an estimate is possible, 

 and I consider the best way to make this estimate, is to consider that the crop, each year, is about equal to what is 

 planted, the growth making up for the loss. I know the crop of northern oysters of the region under re^iew amounts 

 to about 250,000 bushels, which may also be taken to represent the amount of seed put on the beds. Multiplying 

 this by 35, the average price per bushel, you have $87,500 as the total amount of capital sunk iu stocking the beds. 

 From 100 to 150 per cent, added, gives the amount of sales, after two to three years' waiting, and the expenditure of 

 a considerable outlay in handling. 



* Before lea\'ing this point, I may add an opinion expressed by the late Count L. F. de Pourt.ales, in a report to the Coast Survey, about 

 ten years ago, iu respect to the oyster-beds of the United States, regarding the North river. He wrote : 



" Having been informed that oysters are obtained for purposes of planting, from the Hudson river, I visited Sing Sing, which had been 

 indicated .as about the highest poiut at which oysters .are found. My visit was, unfortunately, after the close of the fishing season, the Ist of 

 June ; bnt I had the good fortune to be referred to the oldest fisherman of the vicinity, a colored man named Brady, at Sp.arta, from whom 

 I obtained some valuable information. He had found oysters as high up as Cruger's, above Croton point, but they were subject to 

 considerable vicissitudes there, being at times entirely destroyed by freshets or ice. From .another informant I learned, that oil' Croton 

 poiut there existed considerable beds of oysters, but all dead. According to Mr. Slitchell's observations, the specific gravity of the water 

 at the bottom oft' Cruger's is 1.003 at the end of flood, and only 1.001 at the end of ebb. The best and largest oysters are now found in 

 the deepest parts, 20 to 25 feet, but they are rather scarce now. Formerly they were abundant and grew close to the shore, where none 

 are found now. This Brady attributed to the construction of the railroad skirting the shore — a pl.ansible ex])lanation — since the washing 

 of the embankment must have produced a layer of mud, in Vhich they have become smothered. The clearing of the forests in the basin 

 of the Hudson must have had, also, a considerable influence in checking the growth of oysters by mud deposits. There is no regular 

 business of oyster-catching as high up as Sing Sing, aa the town laws prohibit strangers from taking oysters, and the inhabitants take 

 only a few for their own use." 



