THE OYSTER-INDUSTRY. 203 



Planting beds in San Francisco bay. — The planting beds are situated in various parts of the bay, and 

 nearly all go dry at low water. Some of the localities uieutioued are : JlillbriC, Saucelito, Alameda creek, Tomales 

 bay, Belmont, Oakland (jreek, and San Leandro. Sheep island, I believe, is no longer planted. The state owns 

 the bottom and sells it by auction to the highest bidder, the purchaser being given a patent title in perpetuity. 

 The state's nominal price was $1 25 an acre, but most of (he suitable ground was taken up long ago, and must now 

 be bought at secoud-haud. Portions of it have been sold thus for -SlOO an acre. The growth is extremely rapid — 

 fully three times as rapid as ordinarily takes place in eastern waters — and this growth tends toward the fattening 

 of the flesh rather than to greater weight of shell, a result highly desirable ; but the mollusk is not considered so 

 hardy here as at the East. The seed remains on the beds from two to four years before selling. 



Practical failure of eastern plants. — From the very first, however, it was noticed that all attempts 

 to make them spawn and propagate beds of the eastern species in San Francisco bay, were frustrated by the death 

 of the intended i^arents. The state of the case was well described in the Bulletin : 



Every etfort to breed tbe eastern oyster in San Francisco bay bas resulted iu signal failure. Tbe grown oyster begins to fatten as 

 soon as it is laid down, and this process goes on very rapidly for about six months, when the oyster suddenly dies, apparently of plethora. 

 The young oyster, or the oyster-plau^, as it is called, develops quite as well as on the beds from which it was taken, and in due course 

 attains its growth and a fatness and exquisite flavor not possessed by its brother at home. But the experience of the dealers, which is 

 confirmed by observations taken under the auspices of the Academy of Sciences, is that these oysters will not sjyawii in Ihis bay. The most 

 careful investigation has failed to detect any indications of spat on the adult oyster; and the reason is plain enough. It is an axiom of 

 oyster-culture, as we have already pointed out, tliat oysters breed iu salt watt^r on a clean bottom, while they fatten iu brackish water on 

 a muddy or marly bottom. Fattening oi/slcrs do not breed where there is miivh mud. Now, the two great rivers which empty into San Francisco 

 bay bring down a vast amount of muddy deposit, which forms a layer over very nearly tbe whole bottom of the bay. This deposit is fatal 

 to tbe breeding of tbe large oyster, though it is most conducive to fattening. At the same time the fresh water of these rivers is very 

 detrimental to the breeding process. The mud-llats at Oakland were experimented upon for four or five years, but entirely without 

 success. The same was the result of experiments made at Vallejo. All efforts to breed the eastern oyster on this coast have now been 

 abandoned, and the companies devote their attention to transplanting for fattening purposes. 



While the tticts above given are true in a commercial way, whatever may be thought of the explanation, it is 

 equally true, however, that a few young eastern oysters are now and then found. The excessive fatness is no doubt 

 due to the thick nutritiously muddy water of the bay, but I should say that this had only a secondary effect ou the 

 spawning, which was repressed first by the shock of the long railway journey, and secondly by the unnatural 

 coldness of the water to which they are transplanted. It is a parallel fact to the failure to spawn, in the case of 

 southern oysters carried to northern waters on the Atlantic coast. The summer temperature of the water at San 

 Francisco is much lower than that of the water around New York, although the mean winter temperature may be 

 higher. It is said, however, that considerable eastern spat caught and grew on beds of native oysters near San 

 Leandro last year. I am not sure of the truth of this. 



Prices op eastern oysters in San Francisco retail trade. — The price of eastern oysters in San 

 Francisco at first was ■'^15 a hundred ; now they have come down to $2 50, $2, and $1 to $1 50 a hundred, according 

 to grade. "The shoal- water bays," writes Jordan, "sell at about $2 50 per sack of a thousand. The Olympia 

 oy.sters .sell at about $2 50 per sack of the same size, but, being smaller, there are 1,400 or 1,.500 in a sack. In 

 187()-'77 they were about $4 per sack ; in 1870-71, and '72, -$5 to 80. Previously they had been as high as $Ui per 

 sack. Tliis business, like almost every other in California, has been overdone. More oysters are now planted 

 than can be readily sold, and the sharp competition keeps the prices low, and the sales are disj)roportionately small 

 for the amount of capital invested. Oysters are a luxury, and with the hard times now in California, luxuries 

 have to be lopped off. The retail dealers refuse to reduce their prices proportionally, and the people go witliont 

 oysters. The reduction in prices made by the wholesale dealers increases the co::sumption but little, as the retail 

 dealers and restaurant keepers do not follow. There are now enough oysters planted to supply the whole coast 

 for some time to come. The half a dozen dealers in San Francisco are ambitious for a large business, and it takes 

 but very little of anything to overfill the Pacific coast market. There is scarcely anything in the line of food 

 Avhich can be profitably exported in case of oversupply. The ruling wholesale price for eastern oysters is now 

 $15 to 825 or 830 per thousand, ami the whole bu.siness is stagnant. No oysters are canned on the Pacific coast in 

 any amount. All are shijjped alive in the shell, and little is done except in winter." 



Men and capital. — The number of men supi)orted in San Francisco and on the bay by the wholesale oyster- 

 trade is about 75 during the whole year, with an additional force in the busiest sea,son. About half of these are 

 married, so that we may estimate from 200 to 250 as the number of persons dependent upon this wholesale trade 

 and production there. Only four firms, all in the market on California street, handle eastern oysters. There are 

 two other wholesale dealers, but their business is in "Shoalwater", "Yaquina", "Natard Bay", and "Olympia" 

 oysters, to the extent of only $20,000 or 825,000 a year combined. 



The data furnished 1\v Mr. Jordan give an estimate of 6570,000 capital invested by these .six firms ; total sales 

 of .$000,000, and amount of oysters sold (by count) at 45,000,000. It seems to me that this last item is much too 

 high. I cannot find warrant for sales exceeding half that, or at the very most 25,000,000 oysters of all kinds, 

 equal at niost to only 125,000 bushels ; and at an average price of 823 a thousand, this would yield as the total value 

 of cash sales only $575,000. It is probable an even half-million would cover it. 



