THE COAST FISHERIES OF TEXAS. 393 
unsatisfactory enactment of 1887. The natural oyster beds preémpted 
are fished on by the public without molestation; and of the remain- 
ing portion of the ground but a small area has ever been cultivated. 
The most elaborate attempts at cultivation have been made in Gal- 
veston Bay. In 1889 and 1890 one oyster company secured several 
thousand acres of sea-bottom located partly in Galveston Bay and 
partly in Matagorda Bay. During the last week of April in 1890 about 
6,000 bushels of oyster shells were planted for the purpose of obtaining 
a “set” on a part of the grounds in Galveston Bay. This is reported 
as being the first attempt of the kind made on the Texas coast. On 
May 10, of the same year, the shells were examined and found to have 
eaught an abundant quantity of “spat.” On August 2 following the 
young oysters were reported to be one inch and overin length. At the 
time of my visit, in January of 1891, it was found that they had lived 
well and would then “run” about 1,500 to the barrel. 
In the winter of 1890-91 about 20,000 bushels of oyster shells were 
planted, but with what success is not yet learned. The private 
grounds in Galveston Bay are:also used for planting the small or 
“eull” oysters obtained from the natural beds, about 45,000 bushels 
having been planted there in 1890. That was the first year in which 
this was done on so extensive a scale. 
On the whole the cultivation of oysters in Texas waters gives every 
assurance of success. While the area of natural oyster beds is com- 
paratively large, yet these reefs do not seem to possess aS much re- 
cuperative power as the majority of beds on the coast of the Middle 
Atlantic States, and will more readily suffer from extensive fishing. 
The destructive spring freshets will also probably hasten the cultiva- 
tion of oysters, by causing the fishermen to remove the young oysters 
from exposed places and to plant them in sheltered localities. 
MAREETING OF FISHERY PRODUCTS. i 
At nearly all the fishing ports in Texas a number of men give their 
attention to the wholesale marketing of the products taken by the fisher- 
men. These men have market houses (ranging in value from $500 to 
$10,000) located on the shores of the bays, from which piers 100 to 400 
feet in length usually run out into the water. The products handled 
in these markets consist almost entirely of oysters and the catch made 
by the bay-seine fishermen, with at times afew flounders, catfish, turtle, 
and terrapins. The products of the other fisheries mostly find their way 
into local consumption without going through the wholesale markets. 
Hach marketman usually has a verbal agreement with a number of 
fishermen for the purchase of their catch at a price fixed for the season. 
He endeavors to so arrange the. fleet that a certain number of boats 
may land their catch on each shipping day. When the fish are ac- 
cepted by the dealer, the fishermen transfer them from the “live cars” 
to the market-houses. While doing so the “poor fish,” that may have 
