THE OYSTER-INDUSTRY. 195 



upper parts of East, North, and West bays, and are most abundant in the deep and open water. These are the 

 favorites of the Georgian inland towns, whei'e they chiefly find their way. 



Ohoctawhatchie bay, next westward, contains very few oysters, but the Lirge shell-heaps there show that 

 formerly they were taken in vast numbers. Now, the few that are got are found scattered over grassy shoals. 



Pensacola. — Arriving now at Pensacola, I am again indrbted to Mr. Stearns' studies for my facts. The 

 oyster-season there begins in Se])tend)cr and ends in April. The banks worked (only with tongs) lie in Escambia 

 bay, and are scattering and very poorly stocked — not so well as Ibrinerly. The absence of shclMieaps on the 

 adjacent shores show that the Indians did not resort to this for a supply of moUuscan food to any great extent. 



The boats serving here are open, flat-bottomed, roughly-made skifi's, not exceeding 24 feet in length, and cat- 

 rigged or sloop-rigged. Two men form the crew, and consider from Ave to twelve barrels a load, satisfying 

 themselves with one trip per week. As there are about seven boats, an averaged estimate of the season's total 

 production would give about 2,500 bushels. The selling-price being only 35 or 40 cents per bushel, the cash proceeds 

 will hardly exceed $1,000, to be divided among about flfteen fishermen. A system of sharing is in vogue, by which 

 the proceeds of each day's catch is divided into equal thirds between the boat and each of the two men who 

 constitute her crew. 



"The catch at Pensacola," Mr. Stearns says, "often fails to snpjdy the local demand, and additional oysters 

 are obtained from Mobile and Saint Andrew bay. Nothing of consecpience has been done here in oyster-culture." 



Recapitulation foe Florida. — A resume for Florida will not be out of place here, and will represent the 

 following facts: 



Number of catchers and sliippcrs 166 



Number of boats engaged - - HO 



Valne of same - |8,000 



Number of bushels sold 78. 600 



Value of same $^^t 950 



55. OYSTEE-INDUSTEIES OF ALABAMA. 



The Mobile supply. — Crossing the line into Alabama, the port of Mobile offers opportunity for the sale of 

 many oysters, and more or less cultivation of this food-mollusk is carried on there. I can here, also, supplement 

 my own notes by the records of Mr. Silas Stearns: 



'• The oysters that are brought to Mobile are obtained from natural and artificial beds in Mobile bay. Those 

 from the natural beds are called 'reefers', which are slightly inferior in size and quality to those from the artificial 

 beds, which are called 'plants'. They are obtained in a portion of the bay called the 'gully'; the only place 

 ■where they are naturally abundant. The planted oysters are originally obtained from the salt water, near Gat 

 island, between Mobile bay and Biloxi, Mississippi, and are deposited in front of the oysterman's land. 



Oyster-culture. — "The state laws provide that any settler on its bay shores shall have the right to use for 

 oyster-culture the water surface in front of his lands from low-water mark COO yards outward. 



"About thirty vessel-loads, or more than 2,500 bushels, are usually planted at first on new grounds, and are 

 allowed to remain two years before they are gathered up to be sold. The next and following times that deposits 

 are made it is not necessary to plant as many as at first ; for there are many small oysters that escape the tongs 

 which will soon grow large enough for market. 



" It is calculated that in two years the small salt- water oysters will have so grown in size and so increased la 

 numbers, that there will be about twice as many as when transplanted ; but this ratio can hardly be depended 

 ui)on, for it often has been proved that, to realize an increase of 50 per cent., the location and circumstances must 

 be most favorable. 



"Oysters as taken from salt water are in very poor condition, but in an incredibly short time, in fresh or 

 brackish water, they become large and fat. Still there are times, when the bay is almost purely fresh, that certain 

 injurious qualities in it (perhaps from the extensive swamps) either destroy oysters or turn them so red that they 

 are unfit for market. Invertebrate animals are probably the cause of many oysters being killetl, though the 

 oystermen seem to be ignorant of it. Drum-fish are also very destructive. 



Oyster-fisheries. — "Besides the 'reefers' and ' plants ', there is a kind of oyster called iiere 'sharpers', 

 from the fact that the ends of their shells are unusually sharp. They are a natural-growth oyster of very large 

 size (shells averaging 8 or 10 inches long) and superior flavor, that are found growing separately along the bay 

 shores, not far from the place where ' reefers ' are gathered. ' Sharpers ' are always in demand, though there is 

 some objection to them on account of their being so hard to open. 



" ' Reefers ' and ' sharpers ' are caught by men who follow no other pursuit, and who are a quite distinct clas.s 

 from the oyster -boatmen. They have small, flat-bottomed skiffs of the roughest description, in which they go 

 ' a-tongiug', two men occupying a boat and taking turns at tonging and culling. As fast as the stock is culled it 

 is placed in shallow, oblong boxes holding one-fourth of a barrel each, and in these mea.sures is sold to the boatmen 

 or carriers at the rate (during the winter of 1860-'81) of 10 cents a ' box ', or 40 cents a barrel. The carriers having 



