OYSTER resour(;es of the pacific coast. 367 



nsod in San Francisco annually. These, at tlie Willapa. Bay price of 

 •i^l.To per sack (of 2 l)nsliels), are worth $30,025. Very nearly as many 

 go to Portland as to San Francisco. The remainder goes to the smaller 

 towns of Washington and Oregon. 



Bay Center. — Three or four times as much oystering is carried on 

 here as at any other place in the bay, and during the i>ast two years 

 the business has greatly increased. The total population is about 200, 

 one third being Indians. The latter class is largely emi)l()yed in the 

 labor of culling. A few Chinamen are also employed as cullers and 

 render excellent service. There are fifteen proprietors in the business 

 here, employing a fleet of 15 i)lungers, 35 bateaux, and 1 8 floats. ^' The 

 Native Oyster Company" of Bay Center ships chiefly to the Portland 

 market. 



OysicrviUc. — There are over 1,000 acres of transplanted beds here. 

 The village is of about the same size as Bay Center, and like it is 

 supported chiefly by the oyster industry. Oysterville was formerly the 

 chief seat of the fishery, but the beds have become so thickly covered 

 with grass that much of the business has been transferred to Bay Cen- 

 ter. There are at present but ten proprietors engaged in the oyster 

 business. 



Brucc2)ort and J^orth Gove. — At Bruceport, which occupies the third 

 j)lace in oyster jn-oduction in Willapa Bay, similar methods and con- 

 ditions prevail. The oyster business at North Cove is chiefly carried 

 on by the crew of the life-saving station located there, who restrict it 

 to the cultivation of "plants" purchased from other parts of the bay. 

 The area of transplanted beds in the latter place amounts to about 25 

 acres, yielding nearly 500 sacks per annum. 



Temperature. — It is not unlikely that the summer temperature of the 

 extreme southern part of Willajia Bay may be close to that of San 

 Francisco, and that eastern oysters would propagate there. From the 

 shelly nature of the bottom they might be expected to do well, pro- 

 vided the conditions of temperature were similar. It is certain that 

 the native oysters of this bay breed freely at San Francisco. We know 

 nothing as yet about the summer temperature of the water in this bay, 

 except as it is indicated by observations made by the Ct)ast Survey 

 steamer Gedney in the northern part. The temperature even there may 

 be higher than the following table indicates, as the observations were 

 all made at 4 a. m., when the temperature is usually lowest, day tem- 

 peratures being as a rule higher. Banging, as it does, usually no 

 lower than G0° at 4 a. m,, for August ami for that part of July covered 

 by the record, it is probable that the temperature would not be lower 

 than 65° for afternoon observations. Assuming a summer temperature 

 of 60° to 05° for that part of the bay nearest the sea, we may reason- 

 ably expect to find the water decidedly warmer in those parts of the 

 bay 15 or 20 miles back from the sea. A careful study of the tempera- 

 ture of this locality Avould no doubt yield important information. 



