OYSTER-CATCHING. 47 



bushels, which are packed away with sea-weed in the 

 cellar for winter use. Those that remain till spring 

 are quite likely to be alive and well. Large quantities 

 of oysters in the shell are shipped to Europe. 



For use in the interior of the country, the shells are 

 packed in barrels, the large valve down so as to retain 

 all the liquor of the animal. A large business is car- 

 ried on in "raw oysters," or those which are taken 

 from the shells and canned. The opening of oysters 

 is something of a trade in itself. An expert opener 

 will take out thirty thousand oysters in a day. The 

 raw oysters are separated according to size into ' ' me- 

 diums, " "standards, " and "selects," and are packed 

 in tin quart cans, or in gallon kegs. 



The New York oysters bear many fancy names. 

 "Saddle-rocks" came originally from a reef of that 

 name on the north shore of Long Island. Twenty- 

 five of them have been known to fill a bushel. The 

 bed, however, was exhausted more than forty years 

 ago, and now any good, large oyster may be called a 

 "saddle-rock." "Blue Points," which are small but 

 of fine flavor, and sought for eating on the half-shell, 

 are from shallow bays along the southern shore of 

 Long Island. " Shrewsburys " grow at the mouth of 

 a river of that name near Sandy Hook. 



The oysters of the Pacific coast are exceedingly 

 small, and are served in restaurants by the hundred 

 or half hundred. A Californian visiting New York 

 stepped into an eating-house and ordered a hundred 

 fried oysters. He was surprised when he saw spread 

 before him a full hundred Shrewsburys, a dozen of 

 which make a hearty meal. 



