526 msTOuv AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



enough to permit them to be seen at from 4 to 7 feet of depth, the oysterman goes in search of 

 these extra-fine specimens into bays, creeks and old planting-grounds, and picks them up, one 

 by one, with a pair of single-tilled tongs, appropriately called "nippers." 



The scene upon one of the James Eiver shoals at the height of the seed-tonging season is an 

 enlivening one. There will be perhaps a hundred small boats on 500 acres, each containing two 

 or three men. Most of these boats are dug-out canoes, pointed at both ends, and so narrow that 

 should a novice step into one it would most probably be overturned ; yet the oystermeu work in 

 them all day long in smooth weather, and sometimes in pretty stormy weather, and apparently 

 keep them properly balanced without any effort. To propel them through the water they use a 

 long paddle, wielded at the stern, which also serves as a steerer by a skillful turning of the blade. 

 The tongs employed are of three sizes, 24, 32, and 36 inches in breadth of "head," the size used 

 depending upon the abundance of the seed. 



Under the excitement of the competition the oystermen wield their heavy tools with great 

 energy, aud rarely bring them up empty. As soon as a load has been obtained, they go and 

 deliver it, if they are working for hire, or proceed to sell it to some sloop, at whose mast-head a 

 basket has been hoisted to show that it had come to buy. Some of the seed is sorted over, and 

 only the living oysters in good shape are reserved ; bat the greater part is accepted by the planters 

 just as it is brought from the bottom, and includes all the dead shells, trash, and injurious . 

 vermin that may happen to come out with it. This " run of the rock" may be had for 5 or 10 

 cents a bushel, while picked seed costs from 10 to 40 cents. 



As soon as a boat is loaded all haste is made to get to the planting-grounds, where the cargo 

 is at once tumbled overboard on the private bed. The expense of carrying and planting is from 

 8 to 10 cents a bushel an item little if any larger for first-class culled seed than for the mass of 

 trash, only a portion of which represents living and healthy oysters. 



The southernmost, and one of the most famous localities for oyster-planting in Virginia, is at 

 Lynnhaven, just inside of Cape Henry. Lynnhaven Eiver, as described to me by Col. Marshall 

 McDonald, of the U. S. Fish Commission, is simply a branching arm of Chesapeake Bay. It is 

 fed by very little surface-drainage, the rain waters of the back country finding their way into it 

 by percolation through the porous subsoils that form the banks. When the tide is out the fresh 

 water flows out on all sides by infiltration, and dilutes the salt water in the coves and all along 

 the shores. When the tide is at the flood the saltness is in a measure restored. It is to these 

 incursions of fresh water twice in twenty-four hours that the extreme fatness and flavor of these 

 oysters are probably to be attributed. 



Oysters for planting are obtained from Back Bay and Linkhorn Bay, tributaries of Lynnhaven 

 Eiver, and from spawning-coves in the river itself; those from James Eiver and other localities 

 have not done well. The seed-oysters are carefully separated aud planted evenly and thinly over 

 the bottom, by a careful sowing, broadcast, with a shovel. Any bottom will suit, provided it is 

 not sandy, so as to shift with the action of the tide and bury the oysters, and is not too soft to 

 bear their weight. They remain in the beds six years or more, and are then sent to the market, 

 where they bring the highest price on the list, and are consumed almost wholly, in the shell, by 

 hotels and saloons as "fancy" stock. It is said that 200,000 bushels are now laid down at Lynn- 

 haven, yielding 25,000 bushels for sale annually. All the coves of the river and a greater part of 

 its bed are occupied by plants, aud it is feared that the capacity of the river has been overtaxed. 



The next most important planting-grounds probably are at Cbincoteague, on the ocean side of 

 the peninsula, between Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic. Oyster cultivation was begun here 

 twenty years ago, and proved extremely profitable. The whole bay is now staked ofl' in small 



