104 Our Food Mollusks 



food supply will not be sufficient for maximum growth. 

 In Long Island Sound the limit is from three hundred to 

 six hundred bushels for an acre of bottom. It is quite 

 possible that some waters in the South may yet be found 

 capable of supporting a greater number. 



On the shore of the continent in Europe, oysters are 

 planted between tide lines. There they are spread out 

 evenly on the ground at ebb tide, or arranged by hand in 

 racks. On our shore, all planting is done below the tide 

 lines, so seed oysters must be thrown overboard from 

 boats. The planter tries to spread his seed as evenly as 

 possible. If he has a large area to cover, he temporarily 

 divides it into small plots, by stakes in shallow water, 

 and by buoys in deep, and then plants one plot at a time. 



Let us suppose that he has but a few acres that are to be 

 planted from skiffs, and that he desires to spread about 

 three hundred bushels of seed oysters on an acre. If he 

 does his work carefully, he temporarily divides an acre 

 into sixteen squares that are somewhat more than fifty 

 feet on a side. Loading a skiff with eighteen or nine- 

 teen bushels of seed, he takes it to one of the small 

 squares, and, with a shovel, flirts the cargo as evenly as 

 possible over the area. A like amount, spread in the same 

 way on each of the other squares, gives him an evenly 

 seeded acre bearing about three hundred bushels. The 

 advantages of even planting are obvious, but the work is 

 not always done carefully. 



Those who practise planting on a large scale, especially 

 in the deeper waters of Long Island Sound, employ steam 

 vessels for towing scows, loaded with seed, slowly back 

 and forth over an area marked by buoys, while a gang of 

 men on each scow unloads it by means of shovels. 



In northern waters especially, planted areas are very 



