254 Our Food Mollusks 



that the shallow bottoms permit the gathering of oysters 

 only by the slow, laborious, and uncertain method of 

 tonging. 



A glance at a map reveals the limited shore lines of 

 Alabama and Mississippi. From east to west the former 

 has about fifty-five and the latter about seventy miles of 

 coast, though Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound make 

 the shore line actually very much longer. But oyster 

 waters within these states are not extensive enough to 

 promise important developments in the oyster industry 

 of the future. 



To the present time, however, Mobile in Alabama, and 

 Biloxi in Mississippi, have been important canning cen- 

 ters. Most of the oysters canned in the latter city were 

 formerly taken from waters claimed by the state of 

 Louisiana, which claim was upheld by the U. S. Supreme 

 Court in 1906. 



Louisiana is the most progressive of oyster producing 

 states excepting those of the northern field. Its produc- 

 tion is not large when compared with that of Maryland 

 or Virginia, but it has made great and substantial prog- 

 ress in oyster culture, and the industry, responding at 

 once to sensible and liberal laws, is growing rapidly and 

 securely. 



In one respect Louisiana is unique among states pos- 

 sessing oyster fields. While the greater part of its pro- 

 duct has been derived from natural beds, it has not waited 

 until these were destroyed before searching for some 

 other source of supply, but has energetically and in- 

 telligently encouraged oyster culture. At the same time 

 its natural beds, though now more or less depleted, are 

 being systematically cared for, and bid fair to remain as 

 prolific public tonging grounds for some time to come. 



