124 Our Food Mollusks 



bottom, and left them to work a miracle for him. He 

 has then been ready to declare that oyster culture is a 

 delusion. Talk of that sort is not uncommon to-day in . 

 some quarters, but at many points on our long shore line, 

 that type of oysterman is learning his lesson from his 

 more intelligent and more thrifty neighbors. Success in 

 oyster culture requires work. 



There is one extreme variation in this work that de- 

 pends partly on the condition of the industry. The na- 

 ture of the labor required when one collects and sells seed 

 and another plants, is different from that required of 

 one who must depend entirely on his own efforts. Sta- 

 bility arises from cooperation, but the isolated oyster 

 farmer is apt to suffer many hardships. But the great- 

 est variation in the work necessary for success in oyster 

 culture arises from differences in local natural conditions. 

 It has been proved by several failures that it is impos- 

 sible to follow successfully in Pamlico Sound precisely 

 the same methods that have succeeded in Connecticut. 

 Oyster culture in Jamaica Bay is not exactly like that 

 at New Haven. In Long Island Sound the work on deep 

 beds is not like that near the shore. Culture is, of course, 

 everywhere the same in its main features, but the neces- 

 sary details, that are essential, vary with the locality, 

 and must be discovered by experiment. This fact should 

 be kept in mind, especially on the Gulf coast, when the 

 time comes for introducing all phases of oyster culture 

 there. The chief thing necessary everywhere to assure 

 success is painstaking labor. 



An examination of the labors of the Long Island 

 Sound oystermen, who have carried oyster culture to 

 the highest point of perfection in this country, shows 

 them to be extensive. After the preliminary work of 



