88 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



[June, 



in the midst of his floating fields. From Maroh 

 to Juno the latter are one mass of floral 

 beauty — a flowry sea, in which tlie many va- 

 rieties of the rose prevails, wliile other flowers 

 add tlieir varied tints and perfumes, promi- 

 nent anioug which are variegated garlands of 

 carnations, poppies, sweet peas, jessamine 

 and other gifts of the munificent flora of 

 Mexico. 



When the City of Mexico was taken by the 

 Spaniards under Cortes, in 1.5-21, it occupied 

 several islands in Lake Tetzeuco. The water, 

 from various influences, chiefly volcanic, has 

 since receded, and the city, although still re- 

 taining its ancient site, is now two miles and 

 a half distant from the lake. At the time of 

 the Spanish conquest,, it presented, however, 

 very much the appearance of Venice — "a 

 city in the sea, thronged on her hundred 

 isles " — the margins of whose broad and nar- 

 row canal streets were in many places lined 

 with splendid mansions. 



According to ancient Spanish history the 

 native Mexican had at that time attained a 

 high degree of perfection in various arts, for 

 which they do not appear to have been in any 

 degree indebted to the civilization of the Old 

 World, and which must have been an out- 

 growth of indigenous talent. Especially in 

 the cultivation of the soil, by which the fruits 

 and flowers of this tropical region were de- 

 veloped, were the native Mexicans highly 

 skilled. 



The fertility of these floating gardens, ow- 

 ing to the abundant aavantages afforded for 

 moisture, was very remarkable, and the early 

 chroniclers describe them as literally covered 

 with flowers and fruit. The City of Mexico is 

 still to a great extent, supplied from floating 

 gardens with fruit, vegetables and the choic- 

 est floral productions, constituting an indus- 

 try from which is derived the sole support of 

 the inhabitants of some of the villages situ- 

 ated on the shores of the lake, who are, in- 

 deed, descendants of the aboriginal race who 

 fell victims of the treachery of Cortes. Two 

 of these villages, Santa Anita and Ixtaculco, 

 New Mexico, are noted for their beautiful 

 flowers, and, at certain seasons, when their 

 floating gardens are in full bloom, they are 

 favorite resorts for pleasure parties of the citi- 

 zens. 



The region of Entre-Rios, in Brazil, has 

 many noble gardens. The magnificent bay of 

 Ganamara, along the shores of which the pub- 

 lic Passeio stretches for a considerable dis- 

 tance, has been celebrated for its beauty ever 

 since the first settlemet of the Portugese in 

 the Brazils. At a time when, unadorned by 

 art, or any handiwork except tliat of Nature. 

 in a climate sublime and ethereal, this shore 

 was called " The Walk of the Lovely Nights," 

 Villeganon, as as early as 1555, wrote entliusi- 

 astically of the bay of Ganamara, and de- 

 clared tliat nothing but the Bosphorus could 

 be compared to its beauty. He describes, as 

 well, the beauties of the gardens of Rio, 

 which, in their antiquity, were marvels of 

 sublimity. During the government of the 

 fourth viceroy, Luis de Vasconcellos, in 1778, 

 the present public promenade was created. A 

 great part of the ground now occupied by the 

 promenade when thus projected, as well as 

 that now occupied by the public gardens, was 

 a low and unpromising waste. 



CONDENSED \A^ISDOM ABOUT 

 OYSTERS. 

 Half the people that eat raw oysters don't 

 like them. They only do it because it's a 

 nice dish to order and smacks of good living. 

 Now, when a man orders lialf a dozen of the 

 largest oysters it certainly can'f be because he 

 likes the flavor as a big oyster has not the 

 choice flavor that epicures pretend to like. 

 Big oysters ought only to be cooked, and 

 small ones reserved for raws ; but if you ven- 

 ture to serve a dozen small oysters on the 

 shell, people think you are cheating them. . 

 What do I consider the best oysters ? Well, 

 the Shrewsbury. They have a different color, 

 and a sweet, delicate taste that seems to me 

 better than that of any other. But there 

 isn't one man in 500 that can tell tlie differ- 

 ence between Shrewsbury, Long Island, Mill 

 Ponds, East Rivers, Providence Elver, etc. 

 They think they can, so it's all right. At a 

 good many eating houses you can get any 

 kind of an oyster, in season or out, but they 

 all come from some scrub bed. The largest 

 are labeled Saddle Rocks, another size and 

 shape Blue Points, and so on. Blue Points 

 are perhaps the most in demand now ; they 

 cost from $4.50 to $6.50 per barrel. East 

 Rivers are estimated the best by a good many, 

 as they are only placed in the market late. 

 They range in price from $4 to $9 a thousand, 

 according to the demand and the supply. 

 The consumers don't feel the rise and fall. 

 It is felt only by tlie wholesalers. Some of 

 the largest oysters come from Old Point, 

 Fortress Monroe. From there they reach 

 Baltimore, and so travel north. Baltimore is 

 the big oyster depot, and they put up im- 

 mense quantities in cans. It's a great sight 

 to see 50 or 100 darkies shucking oysters as 

 fast as the smacks unload them. A smart 

 man ought to cpen from 4,000 to 9,000 a day. 

 I understand a team of four men have 

 shucked -23,000 oysters in a day. That would 

 give them about $iS, Baltimore prices. Oys- 

 ters are eaten here, of course, all summer, but 

 summer is their breeding time, and they ought 

 to be let alone. They're not up to the mark 

 until the water sets cold. 



COLUMBIA SALMON. 

 Speakihg of the salmon fishing interest a 

 Portland (Oregon) correspondent of the San 

 Francisco Chronicle says : The fishing season 

 lasts four months. A boat net and signal- 

 light costs from $400 to .5600. There are 

 thirty-six canning firms on the Columbia 

 river, nearly all of them being at Astoria. 

 There is a general disposition to center the 

 salmon-canning business at that ancient little 

 town, as it seems to be the cheapest place of 

 operations, for if the fisheries were further up 

 the Columbia, tug-boats would have to be 

 employed to bring back the fishing-boats. 

 Yet the lower bay at the mouth of the Colum- 

 bia is very stormy during the fishing season, 

 during which there is often loss of life and a 

 great deal of danger and hardship. This is 

 one reason the Columbia salmon cost more 

 than the Sacramento salmon. Fishermen who 

 have their own boats and nets are paid sixty 

 cents a salmon weighing eight pounds. Those 

 whose boats are furnished by the company are 

 paid forty-five cents a salmon. One of the 

 firms has raised the price to seventy cents a 

 fish, but the others refuse to see the elevation 



Salmon are packed in one-pound cans, and 

 forty-eight cans make a case, the averege 

 price of a case being 9^5 or $5. -JO. The pro- 

 duct of the thirty-six canneries on the Co- 

 lumbia river last year was 535,000 cases, 

 worth $2,782,000. It is estimated that the 

 capital invested in these thirty-six canneries 

 is about .f2,000,000. When it is known that 

 fishing boats cost $500 to $600 each, and that 

 some of the fishing firms have 100 boats, and 

 that a total of about 7,000 men are employed, 

 the cost can be readily understood. About 

 one-third of the salmon product is shipped to 

 San Francisco for reshipment to Australia, 

 the Eastern States, and islands in the Pacific 

 ocean. Tlie remainder is shipped direct from 

 Astoria to Liverpool or London. One vessel 

 recently left with 70,000 cases, worth over 

 $850,000, the most valuable cargo of salmon 

 ever shipped from the Pacific coast. 



The continued run of salmon in the Colum- 

 bia is remarkable, considering the great de- 

 struction of fish by traps and the merciless 

 iron wheels that impale them like the Spanish 

 garotte. There is a sentiment in favor of 

 abolishing this wholesale destruction of fish, 

 and it is very likely that a law will be passed 

 pi-ohibiting it. The law against fishing be- 

 tween Saturday night and Monday morning 

 is not rigidly enforced. This law was passed 

 in order to allow the fish to ascend to their 

 spawning grounds. But in this wholesale 

 and untimely destruction the people are de- 

 stroying the very source of their revenue. It 

 is proposed by the cannery proprietors to 

 establish a hatchery. Some " public spirited" 

 people think the State should establish a 

 liatchery for the benefit of cannery establish- 

 ments. Yet the canneries have, year alter 

 year, packed from 400,000 to 535,000 cases, 

 depending solely on fish that escape to their 

 natural spawning grounds. It can easily be 

 estimated what a future awaits this growing 

 industry when a hatchery has been established 

 able to turn out millions offish annually, and 

 their wholesale destruction stopped. Perhaps 

 then 2,000,000 cases might be packed, which 

 would be a revenue of $10,000,000, about one- 

 fourth of which would be net. During the 

 last fifteen years the revenue derived from 

 fishing in the Columbia river was about $25,- 

 000,000. There were 800,000 cases of salmon 

 packed on the Pacific coast last year, tlie 

 value of which was $4,300,000. This would 

 leave 300,000 cases for canneries outside of 

 the Columbia river. When salmon fishing 

 began here fifteen years ago the price was 

 about three times what it is now, or $15 a 

 case. If the wholesale destruction of fish is 

 not stopped, and hatcheries are not soon 

 established, the supply will soon be like the 

 last run of sliad, and the price will advance. 

 But there is considerable salmon fishing in 

 Alaska, three canneries being in existence 

 there, and recent reports refer to the estab- 

 lishment of another. 



The "scooping" wheels, upon which sal- 

 mon are caught, resemble the old-fashioned 

 "undershot" wheel. They are built upon 

 embankments or projecting rocks, so that the 

 wheel will be in the water when the stream 

 rises. Of course, they are built in the low- 

 water season. The wheels have plank pad- 

 tiles, so that the water running down stream 

 sets the wheel in motion, and the salmon 



