The Pacific Field 271 



which the stale authorities have not attempted to destroy, 

 and, as in all similar cases, the bottoms are rapidly be- 

 coming depleted. 



As yet, true oyster culture — the capture of young on 

 collectors, and their subsequent planting — has hardly 

 been attempted in these waters. Instead, seed has been 

 obtained entirely from natural beds, three or four years 

 being required for its growth. Much of the planting 

 is done on bottoms that are exposed at low water. The 

 capture of the swimming native oyster may easily be ac- 

 complished, however, in favorable localities near breed- 

 ing individuals, and with the decline of the natural beds 

 the method will undoubtedly be resorted to. 



About twenty thousand acres of barren bottoms have 

 been sold to individuals or to corporations, but few have 

 been planted. From them, seventy thousand sacks of 

 native oysters, each containing about two bushels, are 

 marketed annually. The destruction of San Francisco, 

 which had consumed a large part of the Washington har- 

 vest, temporarily affected the market, but as in every 

 other oyster field in the country, there is now an increas- 

 ing demand for this universally appreciated food. 



Live eastern oysters were first sent to the Pacific coast 

 at San Francisco about 1870, on the completion of the 

 first transcontinental railroad. These were sometimes 

 bedded in San Francisco Bay, to be removed for sale, 

 and were found to thrive. Afterward it became an 

 established practice to ship small seed from New York 

 for planting in this bay, and the industry has continued 

 and assumed large proportions. 



Eastern oysters are usually planted on mud flats that 

 are exposed at low tide. So placed, they may easily ue 

 fenced in and protected from the attacks of a sting-ray 



