OYSTER RESOURCES OF THE TACIEKJ COAST. 355 



Qtiantifi/ of 01/ .sic rs put upon the marlrf. — Statements on this subject 

 were coiiflicfiug-. Certain oyster-dealers said that tliere were from 350, 

 to 400 boxes of oysters (containing- 200 fnll-grown oysters to each box) 

 put ui)on the San Francis(;o market daily; while from the statements 

 of certain outsiders, it appeared that the quantity was much greater. 

 Neither did I learn Avhat proportion to this amount the vShipments to 

 outside towns bear. From certain sources 1 heard that there were about 

 100 carloads of seed brought west annually, while others discredited 

 this statement and placed the amount at half that nund)er. 



The cousumi^tion of eastern oysters on the Pacific coast has greatly 

 increased of late years, wliile the rate of importation of seed oysters has 

 not; in fact, after considerable inquiry, the conclusion is that it has 

 decreased; so we may infer that tlie beds, although not self-sustaining, 

 are nevertheless contributing something in the way of natural increase 

 to meet the deman<l. 



The market for oysters in San Francisco is good, and all that are pro- 

 duced sell readily. They are ordinarily packed in boxes containing 

 200, worth $4 per box. It will be seen that they cost twice as much as 

 on the Atlantic coast, where choice oysters are worth $1 jjcr 100, and 

 good oysters, not specially selected, can usually be bought for 75 cents 

 l)er bnshel. Californians will undoubtedly consume more oysters when 

 they can get them at eastern prices. 



Oysters are always in season in California, the sales and prices being 

 the same in summer as in winter. 



The Pacific coast native oyster {Osfrea Inrida). — Tliis small oyster 

 abounds in San Francisco Bay, where it is utterly worthless as com- 

 pared with the oyster from Washington. It is present' upon all the 

 bedding-grounds of the eastern si)ecies. When the latter are i)ermitted 

 to lie too long undisturbed they become coated with the small shells of 

 0. Inrida. There are extensivi; deposits of this species in the shallow 

 waters all along the western part of the bay, and their dead shells 

 washed ashore by the liigh seas that accompany the strong winds of 

 the winter season have formed a white glistening beacli that extends 

 from San Mateo for a dozen or more miles southward. So abundant 

 are they that this constantly increasing deposit of shells covers every- 

 thing alongshore and forms bars extending into the bay. 



Schooners frequently carry away loads of them for tlie making of 

 garden walks and for other purposes to Avhich old oyster shells are 

 adapted. Quantities are ground up and scattered about poultry ranches. 

 The sui)ply is unfailing. Their small size and thin, light shells permit 

 them to be readily drifted about the bay, aiid thus render them unsuit- 

 able as collectors of the spat of eastern oysters. They break apart and 

 disintegrate, and shift so freely when exposed to heavy waves that 

 they can not be considered good lixing-surfaces for the large species 

 when in exposed i)laces. If the banks formed of these little shells 



