LVI REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES, 



o. The Oyster (Ostreavirginica). 



Within a few years past special attention lias been paid by the Cora- 

 mission to various features connected with the artificial cultivation of 

 the oyster, Major Ferguson having visited France in 1878 to study the 

 details of the business as practiced in that country. 



Reference has already been made, in the list of stations ot the United 

 States Fish Commission, to Saint Jerome as a station for the artificial 

 cultivation of the oyster. This is located not far from Point Lookout^ 

 near the mouth of the Potomac River, and was first established by Major 

 Ferguson while Commissioner of Fisheries of Maryland, and subse- 

 quently carried on at the joint expense of the Maryland Commission and 

 the United States Fish Commission. Here it is proposed to establish a 

 system of parks and other arrangements similar to those adopted in 

 France ; and, in addition, to test practically the possibilities of the arti- 

 ficial impregnation of the eggs of the oyster and the production of spat 

 at will, a measure not satisfactorily accomplished in Europe. 



Lieut. Francis Winslow, of the Navy Department, having been oc- 

 cupied in collecting statistics of the oyster industry for the Census of 

 1880, continued his labors in the service of the United States Fish Com- 

 mission by authority of the Secretary of the Navy. His researches 

 ■will be duly published when they are completed. 



By the courtesy of Mr. E. G. Blackford, of New York, a great variety 

 of living oysters of the different breeds was imported from Europe, and 

 placed in the hands of Mr. John A. Ryder for investigation. The 

 special problem was to ascertain how far the European oysters, includ- 

 ing the German, French, Portuguese, and English natives, and the 

 green oysters, differed in character • from the American; and thus to 

 determine whether processes applicable to the former were suitable for 

 the latter. Some very interesting facts ascertained by Mr. Ryder will 

 be duly made the subject of a report. 



p. The Oregon Clara (Glycimeris generosa). 



On the Pacific coast there are several species of bivalve mollusks, 

 coming under the general head of clams, which are of very great value 

 in their localities, and which it has been thought might be profitably 

 introduced to the Atlantic coast. 



One of the most important of these is the Glycimeris gencrosa, known 

 by the Indians as the Geoduck, a clam fouud in California, Oregon, 

 and Washington Territory, and which reaches an enormous size, retain- 

 ing, however, a great tenderness and delicacy of flesh, much more re- 

 sembling that of the oyster than of the clam. Correspondence has been 

 entered into with Mr. Henry Hemphill in regard to obtaining and ship- 

 ping a quantity of these clams for experiment, but it was finally con- 

 cluded that it would be better to wait the occasion of a return trip of the 

 fish-transportation car of the Commission before attempting a sending. 



Several other species of western clams are also under consideration 

 for a similar purpose. 



