18 FOURTH REPORT OF SHELL FISH COMMISSIONERS 
British native, on account of its scarcity and British prejudice, sells 
for more: the former bringing two cents and the latter four cents each. 
About the first of February they begin to ship to England oysters 
of the same growth as above mentioned, to be planted, for summer 
use, in water twenty-four feet deep at high tide; but which leaves 
them bare at low tide. The planting is continued through March 
and April, to the middle of May. The shipments from here cease 
about the first of May. These plants serve for summer and early fall 
use. The English oystermen begin to gather them with forks and 
dredges at the low spring tides. They have no steamers; all their 
work is done in small boats. This supply generally lasts until ship- 
ments of stock for immediate use begin again in the fall. 
The best grounds in use for planting Connecticut stock are at Whit- 
stable, near the mouth of'the Thames; Brightingsea, on the south- 
east coast; Clerethorps, near the Humber, on the south-east coast, 
and a tract on the east coast of Ireland between Dublin and Belfast. 
The American oysters thrive well at any of these places, and they are 
much improved in condition and flavor. They have had some suc- 
cess shelling the ground and catching spat; but the growth is slower 
than on our shores. The cultivators do not own the grounds. They 
are leased from the great landholders, and, in addition to rent, the 
cultivator pays a moderate tax. The grounds are marked out by 
stakes and buoys, and the oystermen are careful not to trespass upon 
each other. For example, they have maintained one policeman to 
watch the grounds at Brightingsea for forty years, and he has never 
had an occasion to make an arrest for stealing. 
The firm above alluded to has shipped the past year ten thousand 
barrels of oysters. Although the English cultivator plants stock from 
Germany, Portugal, and France, the American plants are conceded by 
all to be unquestionably the best. It isa fact that deserves notice, 
that in freighting oysters to England this firm has never lost a bushel 
by bad weather, long passage, or otherwise. The steamer Baltic once 
broke her shaft, and was delayed on her voyage about six weeks; 
although the oysters from other sections were condemned, those of 
the above firm arrived in good condition, without a dollar’s loss. 
Oysters for shipping are packed in flour barrels, very carefully, the 
hollow shell down; and are pressed down by heavy weights, so that 
when the barrel is headed the oysters are as compact as a solid mass, 
and so losing but little, if any, liquor, they can be kept a long time. 
A barrel contains three bushels, and weighs about 250 pounds. 
Oysters are admitted there free of duty. 
