THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF NEW JERSEY. 485 



from 1,000 to 3,000 busliels, and a few from 5,00() to 14,000 busliels. 

 The average per man wonld not exceed 500 busliels. The planting is 

 done during the fall and spring, when the seed is being taken from 

 the natural beds. The average cost of oysters for planting, to those 

 who have to buy, is about 25 cents per bushel. Nearly all, if not the 

 whole, of the seed used comes from the natural beds of the bay and 

 from Great Bay. The greater number of the planters, in addition to 

 doing a small cultivating business, engage also in taking oysters from 

 the natural beds, and many of them plant only their own catch, while 

 others buy the necessary sui)ply of seed from oystermen not interested 

 in the industry otherwise tlian in the catching of natural oysters. 

 Thus the two branches of the industry, the artificial and natural, 

 are inseparably connected with each other, many persons engaging in 

 both at the same time. When the supply of natural oysters exceeds 

 the demand for seed in this immediate locality, as it usually does, the 

 surplus is sold to planters at Shark River and elsewhere. 



After the oysters have been planted on the cultivated areas it is 

 customary, as in other sections, to allow them to remain about three 

 years and then shift them to other gTounds in order to perfect their 

 condition for market. 



Apparatus. — The only method employed for taking oysters, either 

 from the cultivated or natural beds, is that of tonging. The tongs are 

 of the ordinary kind, but generally a cheaper quality is used than in 

 localities where the business is more extensive. Their cost when new 

 is about $5 per pair. The law does not permit the use of dredges on 

 the natural beds of the State (except in Delaware Bay) and the planted 

 areas are not sufliciently large to require them. 



3Inrl-eti)ig. — Practically the entire product of marketable oysters is 

 taken from the cultivated grounds. The shipping is done in the fall 

 and spring, and to some extent during the summer. In the more 

 important localities, where the business in a measure centralizes, as at 

 West Creek, Barnegat, and Tuckerton, a number of the planters who 

 engage in the business on a larger scale than the rest are also local 

 buyers and shippers. Some of the planters, therefore, who have only 

 small quantities to dispose of, sell them to the shippers. A very small 

 proportion of the oysters are opened, nearly all being shipped in barrels 

 in the shell. The price received averages 80 cents per bushel. The 

 principal markets are New York, Philadelphia, and Atlantic City. 



GREAT BAY. 



Description. — Directly south of Little Egg Harbor and continuous 

 with it is an extensive sheet of water known as Great Bay. It is 

 inclosed on the north by the shores of Little Egg Harbor Township, 

 formerly a part of Burlington County, but recently of Ocean County, 

 and on the south by Atlantic County. Into it flows a number of small 

 rivers, the largest and most important of which is the Little Egg Harbor, 

 or MuUica. New Inlet connects the waters of the bay with the ocean. 



