476 REPORT OP THE COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



beds in the Hiidsou Eiver, and are termed "Nortli river roughs." They 

 usually cost about 15 cents per bushel, and consist of oysters and shells 

 together. The proportion of oysters to the entire quantity of oysters 

 and shells is estimated to be not more than one-fourth. Large oysters 

 are obtained quite generally from South Amboy, where they have lain 

 two years on the cultivated beds, and cost from 50 cents to 90 cents per 

 bushel; the general price is 86 cents per bushel, which includes the 

 cost of transportation and planting. It is not now customary to plant 

 Chesapeake Bay oysters in the Navesink. In the South Shrewsbury 

 they are used quite extensively. " North river roughs " are also used. 

 During recent years there has been a set of spat on the beds, which has 

 to some extent reduced the necessity of obtaining seed elsewhere. At 

 Pleasure Bay, however, Chesapeake oysters are planted regularly every 

 year; this is believed by the oystermen of Little Silver and Oceanport 

 to be the cause of the set of sj^at on the various artificial oyster beds in 

 the river. An opinion prevails among them that the spawn of the 

 southern oysters is more liable to fixation than that of the native 

 oysters from the Hudson or Raritan rivers. 



Mr. George B. Snyder, of Fair Haven, is authority for the statement 

 that a set of spat occurred in the Navesink in 18G9, when a load of 

 Chesapeake oysters was planted there. 



Unemies of the oyster. — The principal enemies of the oysters are the 

 borers, hard-shell crabs, and the toadflsh or oyster-fish {Batrachus tcm), 

 which is known locally among the oystermen as the " sally growier," a 

 name applied to it probably on account of the savage disposition which 

 it exhibits if molested while guarding its young. The borers are 

 especially destructive to the young oysters. They do more or less 

 damage every year, but occasion great loss some seasons. The crabs 

 and toadfish undermine or burrow holes in the hard bottom into 

 which the oysters drop and are smothered. Aside from these causes 

 there is generally no serious loss, except such as may ensue at times in 

 consequence of freshets of water washing the mud over the beds. 

 Great care has to be exercised to select locations for planting-grounds 

 that will not be too much exposed to alluvial deposits. 



Another menacing feature, arising from natural conditions, which 

 endangers the life of the oyster in the Navesink, is pointed out by Prof. 

 Julius Nelson in the bulletin of the New Jersey Experiment Station of 

 April, 1889. He says: 



In tho ui)per part of tlie river in July a sort of fermentation of the bottom takes 

 place by ■\vbicb a poisonous scum is produced tbat kills tbe oyster. One planter at 

 tbo bead of tbe tidal area lost $10,000 wortb tbrougb tbis cause, combined witb the 

 coming on of a fresbet of water. Tbis '' fer mentation" needs more careful study'. 

 It is ])robably not all due to simple decay of vegetation, though tbat in itself is a 

 process due to the action of living germs, and thus a biological phenomenon. 



The condition above referred to probably occurred in 1888. It is 

 said by the oystermen to be present in the river not oftener than once 

 in eight or ten years, and is believed by them to be precipitated by 



