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The National Geographic Magazine 



quires conditions that it does not find. 

 Experiments are now in progress with 

 the silver sahnon and the humpback sal- 

 mon — species of little value for canning, 

 but exceedingly good when eaten fresh. 

 Each fall for a number of years several 

 million eggs have been shipped across the 

 continent to be incubated in the Maine 

 and other eastern hatcheries and the re- 

 sulting young planted in all suitable 

 waters along the coast. These fish re- 

 quire smaller streams for spawning pur- 

 poses than the Chinook or the Atlantic 

 salmon, and the Bureau is quite hopeful 

 that they will take kindly to many of the 

 coastwise streams of New England, and 

 it is not improbable that some mature 

 specimens may be found in the Maine 

 rivers this season. 



ATLANTIC OYSTERS ON PACIFIC COAST 



The native oyster of the Pacific coast is 

 a small species, with a strong coppery 

 flavor that persists under all conditions of 

 growth and even after cooking. To a 

 person who is acquainted with the 

 luscious oyster of the east coast, the west- 

 ,ern species is an unsatisfactory substi- 

 tute, and there are many people on the 

 Pacific coast whose local pride and per- 

 sistent effort have not enabled them to 

 overcome their repugnance to it. It was 

 therefore a great boon when, at a com- 

 paratively early date, the Atlantic oyster 

 was introduced and took its proper place 

 as the best molluskan food of the Pa- 

 cific seaboard. 



The origin of a very extensive Cali- 

 fornia industry dependent on the eastern 

 oyster is said to have been due to a mere 

 expedient to avoid loss. About 1869 a 

 San Francisco fish firm ordered three car- 

 loads of large eastern oysters. This was 

 the first shipment of the kind, and the 

 market was overstocked, so the con- 

 signees were obliged to dump a part of 

 the cargo in San Francisco Bay. The 

 oysters thrived and subsequently yielded 

 a handsome profit ; and this enforced ex- 

 periment has led to an important trade, 

 and to the inauguration of a system of 

 oyster culture that has remained unique. 



A number of oyster-planting companies 

 are now engaged in bringing one- and 

 two-year old oysters from New York and 

 vicinity and planting them in various 

 parts of San Francisco Bay, where large 

 areas are now devoted to the cultivation 

 of this mollusk. The oysters grow 

 rapidly, retain their native flavor, and are 

 marketed at very remunerative prices 

 after being on the beds for two and three 

 years. The supply is chiefly kept up by 

 annual replenishment from the east, the 

 oysters being brought in refrigerator cars 

 holding 150 to 200 barrels; some seasons 

 the shipments have amounted to 100 or 

 125 carloads. 



The planting grounds are surrounded 

 by substantial stockades, which serve the 

 twofold purpose of keeping out poachers 

 and preventing the destruction of the 

 oysters by sting-rays, large schools of 

 which visit the bay at certain times each 

 year. The plantations are overlooked by 

 watch-houses on piles, which are head- 

 quarters of the men employed in the 

 working of the beds. As required, the 

 oysters are tonged into large scows and 

 transferred to floats, in which they are 

 retained while being culled. Oysters 

 large enough for sale are placed in boxes 

 or sacks and shipped to market, while the 

 small oysters and the shells are replanted. 



California enjoyed a monopoly of this 

 industry for many years. In 1894 the 

 Bureau of Fisheries made a successful 

 plant of 80 barrels of eastern oysters in 

 Willapa Bay, Washington, and demon- 

 strated to the people of the northwest 

 coast the possibility of growing to 

 marketable size in their waters oysters 

 brought from the Atlantic. Private com- 

 panies have now undertaken the business 

 in Willapa Bay, Puget Sound, and sev- 

 eral other points in Washington and in 

 Yaquina River in Oregon, and the out- 

 look is quite favorable for the develop- 

 ment of a remunerative trade. 



The one drawback to the complete suc- 

 cess of this business is the necessity for 

 depending on the east for keeping up 

 the supply. This is particularly true of 

 Oregon and Washington, where the 



