LOUISIANA. 



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fish and Oysters of Louisiana. 



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Apropos of lakes, rivers and streams 

 may be mentioned the varied and abund- 

 ant fish supply found in them all over the 

 state, affordinfr unending sport to the 

 lovers of the piscatorial art Every 

 stream and lake has its own peculiar 

 fish, fancied by the dweller on its banks 

 to be unexcelled in gastronomic quali- 

 ties. Besides, the inland streams, lakes 

 Pontchartraln, Maurepas and others 

 along the gulf coast, furnish an abund- 

 ance of tisli, and are often resorted to by 

 amateur sportsmen from New Orleans. 

 But bevond these, on the Rulf coast, lies 

 a mine'of wealth but partially developed. 

 The fish and oyster industry, which, if 

 prosecuted to the same extent as is done 

 on the north Atlantic coast, or on the 

 Chesapeake bay, would render Louisiana 

 more famous in this line than she is now 

 for her profusely fertile soils. The red- 

 flsh, the pompano, the mullet, the trout, 

 the red snapper and the perch 

 and many o'ther flsh of large 

 size and excellent quality are to be 

 found all along the gulf coast from the 

 Pearl to the Sabine river. So, too, with 

 oysters, that delicious bivalve, which here 

 rivals in flavor the far-famed Cherrystone 

 and Horn harbor products of the Chesa- 

 peake bay. If the cultivation of oysters 

 was practiced upon oih- bays inlets and 

 Dayous to the same extent and with the 

 same kitelligence as is followed upon the 

 Chesapeake bay. New Orleans would soon 

 oecome a center of oyster packing-houses, 

 and share with Baltimore in the enor- 

 mous profl-ts now incident to such an 

 Industry. The west should be supplied 

 exclusively with gulf oysters, and no- 

 where can they be more cheaply or 

 profitably grown than along the gulf 

 coast, bordering Louisiana. The followin. 

 written bv Colonel F. C. iJacharie, in the 

 Southern States Magazine, will give fur- 

 ther information upon this much-neg- 

 lected industry. 



THE LOUISIANA OYSTER BEDS. 



The great resources of Louisiana, in its 

 large production of sugar cane, cotton, 

 rice, lumber and fruits, have hitherto 

 kept in comparative obscurity what are 

 generally deemed the minor- and wrongly 

 considered the less remunerative — fields 

 for the emplovmnt of capital and intelli- 

 gent labor Prominent, if not the princi- 

 pal, among these neglected industries are 

 the vast fisherv interests of the state, 

 Khlch, under energetic labor and sclentihc 

 cultivation, would in a few years equal. 

 If thev did not surpass in the way of 

 pecuniary profit, the aggregate value of 



the entire state. The extent of the oyster 

 territory is so vast, the supply so abund- 

 ant and cheap, and so little" labor and 

 capital are required for its development, 

 that its wonderful advantages and enor- 

 mous profits once known, capital and 

 labor will inevitably seek employment la 

 what must eventually become a leading 

 industry, far surpassing that of any state 

 in the union. 



On the eastern boundary, starting from 

 the Rigolets, the small gut or strait con- 

 necting lakes Borgne and Pontchartraiu. 

 the mouths of tlie Mississippi river to 

 the Texas line, there is a coast of about 

 GOO mi. PS in length, if measured on 

 stra-ight lines from point to point. Mak 

 ing an allowance for the curvatures of 

 the coast, the shores of salt water hays, 

 bayous, inlets, lakes and islands, which 

 fret this part of the state like npl work. 

 the littoral line will not fall short of l.5(K) 

 or 2000 miles. Taking into consideration 

 the shelving, shallow beach adjacent to 

 it, experts well acquainted with its 

 geographical features estimate thai th«' 

 area suitable to planting and growing 

 oysters is double the amount of acreage 

 available in a>ll the other states of the 

 union combined. The coast abounds in 

 suitable places to which the mollusk can 

 be transplanted from the seed bed, and 

 under proper care developed into an oys- 

 ter which for the delicacy of its flavor 

 cannot be excelled the world over East 

 of the Mississippi river these natwral beds 

 are still numerous and transplanting is 

 carried on to but a limited extent Not 

 only do t'lese beds supply the wants of 

 the people of the lower coast, but small 

 quantities are shipped to the New Orleans 

 markets, and hundreds of poachers or 

 "pirates " .so called, from Mississippi, 

 carry awav anualiy hundreds of schoon- 

 er loads of the shell fish 



The flavor of theeo bivalves here taken, 

 allaiugh of excellent qua '..7, comparert 

 ■cxith those of the Atlantic states, yet is 

 bv no means equal to those taU<n from 

 the choice planting grounds across the 

 MissisHinpi. going west from the great 

 river. liavou Cook. Grand bayc.i. bayou 

 Lachnto, "Grand lake, b.iyou Lafourche. 

 Timballer bay Last island, Barataria 

 bay, Vii:e Island lake. Vprmillion bay aad 

 the Calcasieu grounds furnish the iJest, 

 those of bayou Cook having par ex-el- 

 lence the highest repat«tio'i in the mar- 

 kets of Louisiana and the nelghborinp 

 states, and bringing a correspoudingl.y 

 higher price. 



The dilHculties. d^ingers mthI delays 01 

 transportation are being rapidly cyercora« 

 by railways and cnnals, some a:reaaj 

 b'uilt and others pro.locted, penetrating 

 the best oyster regions, and if capita! 

 be properly encouraged and protected u 



