98 TIIR XAUTILUS. 



refer to the canned article, which may be bought for reasonable 

 prices, but to the fresh and delicious bivalve, just " tonged " up from 

 the waters of the bay. 



But there is some reason for these high prices, for the dealer must 

 first pay the fare of every one of these moUusks for a journey of 

 three thousand miles. Of course they do not come in palace cars, 

 but they must be hurri >d through on almost express time, because 

 their intense desire for the sea will brock no delaj'. They detest 

 the prairies, and care nothing for Rocky ^Mountain scenery ; all they 

 ask for is the ocean brine, and if they cannot have it speedily, they 

 grieve their lives away on the road. 



They are brought here in barrels, from Baltimore and other 

 cities, w'hen their shells are about the size of quarter or half dollars. 

 Immediately after their arrival they are emptied ujion rafts and 

 towed to certain flats near the shores of the bay. When in the 

 proper locality, the oyster-man takes up a shovelful of the young 

 oysters and sows them into the water, as the farmer sows the seed- 

 grain u])on the furrows. As the raft is moved, he scatters more of 

 the shelly seed and drives down poles to mark the bounderies of his 

 new sown field. After lying at the bottom for a year or two, they 

 are fished up upon the raft again. They have grown, some more 

 than others, and are more or less aggregated into clusters. These 

 clumps ai'e broken up and the larger oysters are put by themselves. 

 The smaller ones are thrown back, while the larger ones are trans- 

 ferred to an adjoining flat, or, if they are large enough, they are 

 taken to the market. Usually, however, they live in our waters 

 some three or four years before they are of sufficient size to be most 

 profitable. 



" But don't they multiply '?" you may ask. Very little. They 

 })roduce eggs in abundance, but few of them mature, and it has al- 

 ways been found necessary to bring young oysters from the East. 

 Why the young fry do not survive I cannot say, but I believe it is 

 because the ocean water here, even in summer, remains quite cold ; 

 too cold, probably, for the delicate infants whose ancestors have 

 been accustomed to downright summer weather, during the " no-R" 

 months. A few hardy ones do survive, however, and may in time 

 produce a more robust race, but it is hinted that the dealers do not 

 look upon them with great favor, as they find it more profitable to 

 pay the freight — and keep up the prices. 



