II 4 THE OYSTER. 



Jersey, will produce 100 bushels of seed oysters, but 

 that there is no protection for this industry, as popu- 

 lar construction makes such beds " natural ground." 



At Brookham Bay, off the south coast of Long Island, 

 in the region of the well-known " blue point " oysters, 

 it has been the custom for several years to lay down 

 shells, scrap-tin, etc., for the attachment of the young, 

 and when this is done near any oyster-bed, or whenever 

 spawning oysters are planted among the shells, there is 

 rarely a failure to get plenty of young. 



The Delaware planters often find that after a bottom 

 has been used for many years for planting, the young 

 oysters grow upon the shells which gradually accumu- 

 late, and a very valuable artificial oyster-bed is thus 

 established. The law-abiding citizens respect the pri- 

 vate ownership of these beds, and they are a source of 

 wealth to their possessor. 



I quote from the " Report of the Shell-Fish Com- 

 missioners/' of Connecticut, for 1883, the following 

 statement of the present condition of the industry in 

 that State: 



" The deep-water cultivators proceed in three differ- 

 ent ways to make beds. (i). The bottom being prop- 

 erly cleared off, the seed oysters, mixed with the 

 gravel, jingles and other shells just as they are gathered 

 from the natural beds, are distributed thereon more or 

 less uniformly, and there left to grow. (2). Or the 

 bottom is spread over with clean oyster shells just be- 

 fore the spawning season begins, brood oysters, twenty- 

 five bushels to the acre, are distributed over the bed. 



