THE OYSTKR INDUSTRY OF NEW JERSEY. 491 



In all of these localities tlieie are persons who do more or less oyster- 

 planting-, although many of them do not plant more than from 25 to 

 100 bushels per year. Others engage in the business on a larger scale, 

 and plant from 5,000 to 10,000 bushels annually. In 1892 the total 

 number of oysteri)lanters in the county was 180. The average number 

 of bushels planted by each was less than 800. In addition to planting 

 operations a majority of the planters, together with a large number 

 of other oystermen who do not cultivate, engaged in tonging oysters 

 from the natural beds. The total number of persons thus engaged 

 in 1892 was 443, and the quantity of oysters taken by them was 88,510 

 bushels, valued at $19,822. The oysters are chiefly used by the planters 

 for seed. A few thousand bushels were picked by hand from the grass 

 or thatch, and are termed ^'thatch oysters." In all of these localities 

 a majority of the people earn a substantial part of their living by 

 means of one branch or other of the fisheries, the most important of 

 which are the oyster and clam tisheries. 



Grounds. — The grounds upon which the oyster -planting operations 

 are conducted are located chiefly in the small inland bays of the 

 county. With the exception of the planters at Port Republic, whose 

 ])lanting-grounds are in Great Bay, the oyster-planting- areas are lo(,'ated 

 in the bays between Leeds Point and Great Egg Harbor Inlet. The 

 most important of these are Little Bay, Eeed Bay, Absecou Bay, and 

 Lakes Bay. At the southern extremity of Atlantic County, and 

 separating it from Cape May County, is Great Egg Harbor Bay, into 

 which empties the Great Egg Harbor River. This bay and river pro- 

 duce a small quantity of natural oysters, which are used for seed, but 

 have practically no cultivated oyster beds. The bays in which the 

 cultivated grounds are located are interspersed with numerous low, 

 marshy islands. The water is generally very shallow and the bottom 

 soft and muddy. In maiiy regions there are large areas covered with 

 a luxuriant growth of eelgrass. 



Methods. — The methods resorted to in the cultivation of oysters in 

 this section are in most respects very similar to those employed else- 

 where in the State. The seed oysters are obtained in part directly from 

 the natural beds of the various bays from Great Bay to Great Egg 

 Harbor Bay, inclusive. Considerable quantities, also, of large native 

 oysters, which have laid on cultivated grounds for about two years and 

 become nearly large enough for market, are bought and replanted for 

 one season, when they are taken up and marketed. The small natives 

 cost about 25 cents ])er bushel and the large ones from 50 to 75 cents. 

 The average cost of native oysters for planting, large and small together, 

 is about 40 cents per bushel. Planters who engage in the business to 

 any great extent generally buy all of their seed from oystermen who 

 operate on the natural beds or from planters who cultivate on a small 

 scale, while those who plant only small quantities usually catch their 

 own seed. 



