142 The Commercial Products of the Sea. 



to the cargo ; and as they make in the aggregate 6000 

 trips during the eight months of the season, this gives a 

 total of nearly 5,000,000 bushels of oysters, worth about 

 500,000. 



The Nevvhaven banks have a very high reputation, 

 and this place ranks next to Boston in importance in the 

 oyster trade. Fair Haven is the great oyster mart of New 

 England. Only a very small proportion of the oysters 

 here are natives. They are fully equal in quality to those 

 imported, but cannot be raised in sufficient quantities to 

 supply more than one-tenth of the trade. Of the 4,000,000 

 bushels imported, about 1,600,000 are brought in the spring 

 and " planted," while 2,400,000 are imported in the fall and 

 winter, and consumed immediately, some of the largest 

 dealers using as many as 1 50,000 bushels yearly. 



It is estimated that 4,000,000 bushels of oysters are 

 annually carried from the Virginia waters to Fair Haven ; 

 4,000,000 to New York ; 2,000,000 to Boston ; 2,000,000 to 

 Philadelphia ; 2,000,000 to Baltimore ; 3,000,000 to Provi- 

 dence, etc. ; in all, more than a score of millions. 



The celebrated Chesapeake Bay oysters of America are 

 now regularly received in Europe, and are to be found in 

 the markets of London and Paris. There are several 

 varieties of American oysters, differing mainly in size, ac- 

 cording to the districts from which they come. Between the 

 best and the commonest there is hardly a difference of 25 

 per cent. There is the " Morris Cove " oyster, which comes 

 from New Jersey, and is the kind almost exclusively used 

 in New York and the neighbouring districts ; the " Saddle 

 Rocks," a particularly fat variety ; the " Norwalks," from 

 Connecticut ; and other varieties from the coasts of Vir- 

 ginia and Maryland. 



The city of Boston plays the same part in supplying 



