THE OYSTER-INDUSTRY. 



133 



Compariuji- tbis with the exi)ortatious in previous years, it will be seen that there is no loss, hut a 

 A statement of the value of oysters exported from the United States from 1804 to 1879, inclusive, reads 



1864 $85,089 



1865 122,109 



1866 200,409 



1867 181,271 



1868 121,946 



1869 89,266 



1870 134,804 



1871 168,122 



1872. 

 1873. 



1874. 

 1875. 

 1876. 

 1877. 

 1878. 

 1879. 



.$173, 

 243, 

 223, 

 170, 

 214, 

 431, 

 393, 

 453, 



rapid gain, 

 as follows : 



711 

 723 

 733 

 277 

 196 

 230 

 Ofil 

 306 



The different customs-districts from which these exportations were, are as follows : 



Alaska $7 



Baltimore 44,871 



Bath, Me 9 



Boston 2,278 



Brazos tie Santiago 265 



Buffalo, N. Y 41,289 



Cape Viueeufc, N. Y 4,210 



Castice, Me 6 



Champlain, N. Y 11,680 



Chicago, III 74 



Corpus Christi, Tex 4 



Detroit , 1,746 



Duluth 62 



Genesee, N. Y 573 



Minnesota 5, 065 



New Orleans $103 



New York *302,732 



Oswegatchie, N. Y 12, 278 



Paso del Norte, Tex 



Passamaquodd y, Me 



Philadelphia 



Portland and Falmouth, Me , 



Puget Sound, Wash 



Saluria, Tex 



San Francisco, Cal 



Saint John, Fla 



Vermont 



453, 097 



Of these almost exactly one-quarter were sent to Canada, leaving about $300,000 worth to be sent to Europe, 

 and, ill trifling quantity, to Mexico and the East Indies. Dismissing these latter, it is interesting to inqnii'e 

 somewhat into the statistics of our exportations to Great Britain and the Continent. The number of shipments iu 

 1879, between November 1 and May 1, were: 



To Liverpool 27 



To Hamburg 18 



To Bremen 7 



To London 11 



To Havre... 

 To Glasgow. 

 To Bristol... 

 To Cardiff.. 



This gives an average shipment to Great Britain of 2,101.5 barrels; to Germany aud France of 80 barrels. The 

 date of the largest shipment was December 0, 3,558 barrels. The amount shipped from New York was 59,505 

 barrels, aud the value returned by the New York custom-house, $315,933, which gives an average valuation per 

 barrel of $5.30. These shipments were distributed, in consigning, as foUows: 



EaiTcls. Bushels. 



To Liverpool 59,777 X 3=179,331 



To Hamburg 2,321 X 3 = 



To Bremeu . . 

 To London.. 

 To Havre . . . 

 To Glasgow . 

 To Bristol . . . 

 To Cardiii". . . 



Total 63,300x3= 189,900 



At an average of 1,200 oysters in a barrel, this shows the total shipment by count to have been nearly 

 70,000,000. This average of 1,200 is too low, no doubt, as a multiplier, but is on the safe side ; moreover, it will 

 "sum up" a deficiency in putting not quite three bushels into some of the barrels. Taken altogether, this figure 

 (70,000,000) is inside the truth, and a fair estimate. This year (1879-'S0) was, however, a poor year for the oyster- 

 exporting trade in the north, because of the mildness of the weather. Oysters could be got in the greatest 

 abundance all the winter through, and glutted the market. Sometimes, on account of ice, there will be a scarcity 

 of stock at a suitable time for shipping. 



The general opinion among New York men is, that the European demand is going to increase steadily, while 

 there will not lie an overplus of stock here, since the East river beds are slowly failing and are more and more 

 required to furnish a seed-supply. The shippers are, therefore, hopeful of profitable prices in future. 



*The books of the custom-honse In New York i)lace this figure at $315,933. 



