THE OYSTER-INDUSTRY. 199 



The yard is hoisted by one lialliard, besides whicli tliere is very little gear of any kind. To sail close to the wind, both forward and 

 aft sheets are hauled tight, which brings the yard and canvas nearly parallel to the boat, and also draws down tlie forward and short end 

 of the yard, giving the after-part of the sail some " peak ". To sail before the wind, both sheets are slacked until the yard aud sail swings 

 s<|uare. Boats rigge<l in this way are said to be very fast sailers, and do far better than 8looi)s or schooners in beating to windward. 

 Considerable skill and practice is called for in their management, since the long, heavy yard is troublesome at times, aud makes the dauger 

 of a capsize very great. 



These boats are bnilt at New Orleans aud other points near by, in most cases by their owners. The average cost of one measuring 

 six tons is about $800, and has been nearly double that amount until within the last three years. 



A large fleet of these boats gathers at New Orleans, the majority of which are engaged in carrying fruit, vegetables, and other country 

 produce. As the oyster-season does not extend over the whole year, boats that carry oysters in that season are engaged in other work 

 out of it. It also happens that boats engaged in the oyster-fishery one season are quite likely to be otherwise employed the next. 

 Consideriug this, I place the uumber of boats at present engaged in oystering for the New Orleans market at 43, employing 129 men. 



In respect to this same matter Mr. Ainsworth writes : 



The peculiar lugger-rig of the boats (only one sail with no jib or bowsjirit), the many rows of reef points, most of the sails being 

 iitted to reef down tive times, enables them to work very close to the wind. As a rule, the sailors prefer a beam-wind or one on the quarter ; 

 they caunot work well with an after-wind. On return trips ui) the river, the ease and quickness with which they can be handled render 

 the luggers independent of the tug-boats, and it is only when they are in great haste to get first to market, because of a scarcity of oysters 

 iu town, that they accept the help of steam. 



The oystermkn of Mississippi and Loulsiana. — In going to tlie lower coast, writes Mr. Ainswortli, the 

 luggers run down tlie Mississippi generally for about 00 miles, and then through smaller outlets aud bayous into 

 Graud Lake bayou and the various grounds on the coast. The men who are employed in this fishery, and also the 

 sailors who own the luggers, are almost altogether Italians and Sicilians, generally of a low order. Their swarthy 

 faces, long, curly hair, unfamiliar speech, and barbaric love of bright colors in their clothing and about their boats, 

 give a perfectly foreign air to the markets. There is not an American style of rig seen, nor hardly a word of English 

 spoken, in the whole gayly-painted oyster-fleet of Louisiana. 



Most of the oysters brought to Xew Orleans are from naturally growing, uncultivated reefs, with which the 

 whole coast is barricaded, and to which, in a large measure, it owes its preservation from the teeth of the ocean. 

 These reefs are ridges of oysters, packed one above another, each generation supported on the compact and dead 

 shells of the preceding. In general the oysters are found not singly but in great clusters, .some of which are half 

 as large as a barrel. When gathered in this shape there is a great waste of young oysters, for those that are 

 attached to the large ones are not separated utitil after the boat has left the grounds or is at town, when they 

 are thrown away as u.seless. At certain stages of low water such oysters as these can be picked up by hand. In 

 other places, ordinarily iu the open bays, oysters are found in a more scattering condition, but are more readily 

 gathered and require less culliug. In most ca.ses they are procured with oyster-tongs from the lugger, as she lies 

 at anchor over the bed. One man uses the tongs while the other culls them ; or, if there are three in the crew, two 

 use tong3 and the third culls for both. 



This is the method with all the smaller boats which tong their own cargoes. They have to go far from home, 

 and often the men do not get home once a week, or even every two weeks, and must lie exposed to many hard storms, 

 both when at the reefs and in going back and forth the 40, GO, or 100 miles to market. The owners of the larger 

 vessels, however, generally buy their cargoes direct of men who live in the vicinity of the reefs, and by making more 

 trips, having fleet vessels, can in a season make considerable money. In the summer time, those who have been 

 prosperous sometimes take their vessels down the river about G5 miles, aud pass through tortuous channels into 

 Mississippi sound, and lay up for the summer season in the vicinity of Biloxi, Alabama. 



There is a "lay" system in vogue in many of these boats for the distribution of profits, by which the boat and 

 each man receives an equal share, after the bills are paid. 



Oyster-culture. — Oyster-planting amounts to very little along the coast now under view, and what is done 

 is of the simplest character. I can form little notion of its extent or the number of planters. The reef-oysters 

 are taken from the natural beds by tongs in June and carried up the half-fresh bayous, or inshore, where they 

 are laid out between tides until time to sell them in the fall. This improves them somewhat, but .seems to be 

 chiefly serviceable in making them more readily acces.sible for market, and so saving time. The Picayune said 

 that in 1878, 4,500 men were employed in making and assisting in making such transplantings. 



Oyster-marts in New Orleans. — There are three separate landing places and marts for oyster-boats in 

 New )rleans : the Old Basin, the New Basin, and the French market levee. 



To the Old and New Basins (chiefly the for.uer), in the rear of the city, reached by canals from Lake 

 Pontchartrain, come the boats from the eastward, bringing '' lake" and " reef" oysters, generally of inferior quality, and 

 intended to be sold to the canning establishments, or to be opened for cooking purposes. The boat.s average smaller 

 than those used in the river westward, and usually carry only two men. The i)rice of the oyster.s — frequently 

 measured out in quarter- barrel boxes similar to tho.se in use in Mobile — depends upon the state of the market as 

 governed by the su])plies received from the West, aud often goes down to 50 or 60 cents a barrel, at which price 

 there is no profit, and the oysteimeu stop running until a rise occurs. The average price, however, is said to have 

 been $1 50 i)er barrel last winter; and G5,000 barrels is said to have been the total of receipts on this side of the 

 city. This would equal about 170,000 bushels, at 39 cents a bushel. The men who bring oysters from the eastward 



