202 THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The lack of quality of the Shoalwater hay oysters was not only noticeaWe in those sent to California, but 

 became sadly apparent at home, and the local business began to decline. In 187-1, before these effects had made 

 much progress, it was stated in the San Francisco Bulletin^ " that not much less than half a million of dollars is 

 invested in working the beds and gathering the oysters at this point and in bringing them in schooners to San 

 Francisco. The four companies interested in these beds imported 125,000 sacks last year, at a wholesale cost of 

 $20 a barrel. About 150 men are employed in gathering the oysters at Shoalwater bay, and perhaps as many more 

 in working the beds and on the vessels ". Each sack contained nearly two bushels, so that 200,000 bushels would 

 not be an overestimate. To bring these, required tifty trips of schooners, carrying 4,000 bushels each — an important 

 item of coast commerce. Now, I am told, the Shoalwater bay oyster-beds have largely ceased to be productive, 

 and such oysters as are got are of poor size and Havor. In place of the large exports of half a dozen years ago, 

 there are now produced less than 15,000 bushels, and the price paid to the planters is only from 50 to 75 cents. All 

 that are brought to the metropolis come by steamer, at the rate of about 100 sacks a week for half the year. What 

 is the causy of this sudden and excessive decay of the Shoalwater oyster-beds, no one can say. Of that stock 

 which is planted three-fourths now dies. 



Shipments from the Atlantic coast: Histoky. — Upon the completion of the transcontinental railways 

 an important epoch began in the history of the California oyster-business, by the introduction of living oysters 

 from the Atlantic coast. Whether this was at the instigation of Californian or tMstcrn men, I am unable to 

 determine, further than that I was told in New York that it originated through A. Booth & Co., of Baltimore and 

 Chicago, who own extensive salmon-canning houses on the west coast. In the San Francisco Bulletin for Ajiril 14, 

 1871, 1 find the following : 



Some months ago the Bidletin iiublished the particulars of au esperimeut made to grow a better kind of oysters in the bay of San 

 Francisco, than the native breeds of this coast. Marl;; Wiuant and son bronght young New York oysters across tlie continent by rail, 

 transplanted them somewhere on the Alameda side of our bay, and after a year' found that they had increased wonderfully iu size, while 

 retaining to the full the delicacy and richness for which the New York bivalves are famous. A company styled the Pacific Oyster Company 

 was then formed, with a capital of .$'20,000, for the purpose of going into the business permanently, on a small scale. « » » There is 

 no doubt that the business of growing oysters in our bay will become one of great importance, and there is cause for congratulation in 

 the fact. The native oysters obtained along the coast, except the few brought at great expense from Mexico, are suuill in size, coppery 

 in flavor, and relatively scarce and dear. The addition to our markets of au article eijual to the eastern breeds, will be a fact of much 

 value to our menage and our commerce. 



These first shipments were only experimental, at any rate, for it was needed to know whether the Atlantic 

 "seed" would grow inside the Golden Gate, whether it retains its natural flavor or acquires a bad one, and whether 

 it could be sold at a profit at the close of the process. It was not until 1875, therefore, that any San Franciscan 

 dealers felt justified in ordering large quantities, but in that year large shipments began, which have been c;>ntinued 

 with regularity and slowly increasing amount ever since, until now sometliing like .$560,000 worth (ailding freight 

 to first cost) are annually transported across the breadth of the American continent — an almost unexampled 

 movement of living food. The shipping seas on is from the middle of October until the middle of November, and 

 again from March 15 to the middle of JIay. In the spring the cost iu New York is a little higher than in the fall, 

 but the average at present is about $.3 a barrel. 



Present iveetuods of shipping from the East. — The oysters sent to California are all procured from 

 beds in the neighborhood of New York, and are sent exclusively by the firm of J. & J. W. Ellsworth, by whose 

 kindness and permission I am able to i^reseut the exact figures ai)peuded. 



The oysters sent are of two classes : first, those of marketable size and designed for immediate use ; and 

 second, those intended to be planted. 



For the first purpose stock is selected from York bay. Blue Point, Staten Island sound, Eockaway, Norwalk, 

 and occasionally from Virginia, and from Egg Harbor and Maurice cove, New Jersey ; but the whole amount of 

 this class constitutes less than one-fifth of the total shipment. These oysters are either placed on sale at once in 

 the California markets, or are " bedded down " for a few days, to await a favorable sale. 



The class of oysters sent as "seed" is entirely different, and is derived chiefly from Newark bay and theNorth 

 I'iver, stock from there standing the journey better than the East river oysters, which otherwise seem preferable. 

 Beside these is sent seed from Raritan river, New Jersey, and Prince's bay, Staten Island. This seed is so small 

 that a barrel holds from .'!,O00 to 5,000; this number, of course, includes even the "blisters", or oysters so young 

 that you cannot easily detect the double character of the shell, whicli looks like your finger-nail. Although the 

 average time of passage is only eighteen days by the fast-freight lines, it is exi)ected that about one-fourth of each 

 barreUuU will prove dead or too weak to survive tiansplanting at the end of the journey. The "blisters" will be 

 found to have died far more frequently than the larger oysters, none of which, however, are older than a few 

 mouths and larger than a silver quarter. The cars in which they are carried are double-walled, so as to preserve 

 an e(iuality of temperature, so far as possible, and 22,000 ]>ounds is the limit of the cargo allowed by the company. 

 The freight charges at present are about $10 a barrel. This makes it unprofitable to import any seed except that 

 which is very small, and which by growth can add very greatly to their size and consequent value. 



