CHAPTER XII 



THE NORTHERN OYSTER FIELD- 

 HISTORICAL 



OR the sake of convenience, the oyster coast 

 may arbitrarily be divided into several fields. 

 What may be called the northern field in- 

 cludes the shores of New England, New 

 York, and New Jersey. The second includes the Ches- 

 apeake, the third the Carolina and south Atlantic shores, 

 the fourth the Gulf of Mexico, and the fifth the Pacific 

 coast. A brief account of the history of the industry 

 and natural conditions peculiar to each of these fields will 

 be given. 



Cape Cod is an interesting part of our Atlantic coast 

 to the biologist, because it tends to separate two faunas 

 and floras. The warm gulf stream, turning northward 

 through Florida Strait, follows the shore closely until it 

 reaches this cape, and is then deflected away from the 

 shore. From the north, the cold arctic current descends 

 along the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland, a por- 

 tion of it continuing southward closely hugging the Nova 

 Scotia and Maine coasts, and finally ending in Massa- 

 chusetts Bay on the north side of Cape Cod. Because 

 of the resulting differences in temperature, many marine 

 animals and plants are found on one side of the cape, 

 that are not able to exist on the other. There are, how- 



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