THE WORLD'S AIOST VALUABLE WATER CROP 



261 



itself to the lips of the oyster-shell and 

 exerting a steady and long-sustained 

 traction with each of its numerous small 

 suckers. After a time the powerful ad- 

 ductor muscle of the oyster becomes fa- 

 tigued, the valves open, and the starfish 

 inserts its stomach and devours the help- 

 less oyster at leisure. 



Other enemies of the grown oyster are 

 fishes with powerful jaws armed with 

 crushing teeth. On the Atlantic coast 

 the most destructive fish is the black 

 drum, a school of which may literally 

 clean out an oyster-bed in one night. On 

 the Pacific coast a species of stingray is 

 the chief offender, and to stop its rav- 

 ages the oyster growers have been 

 obliged to inclose the beds by stout pali- 

 sades. 



Further damage is done to oysters by 

 the encroachments of mussels, barnacles, 

 sponges, etc., which sometimes occur so 

 densely on the shells as to cut off food 

 and oxygen, and thus greatly retard the 

 growth of the oysters. 



OYSTERS ARE CHEAPEST AND MOST POPU- 

 LAR IN THE UNITED STATES 



In any consideration of the world's 

 oyster industry the United States neces- 

 sarily receives first and most prominent 

 mention, for there is no country in which 

 oysters occupy a more important place. 

 The output here is larger and more valu- 

 able than elsewhere, and the relative im- 

 portance of oysters compared with the 

 total fishery product is greater. Further- 

 more, among the leading oyster-produc- 

 ing countries the cost of oysters to the 

 consumer is least and the per caput con- 

 sumption is greatest in the United States. 

 Additional evidence of the conspicuous 

 position held by the oyster is seen in the 

 facts ( I ) that it is taken in every coastal 

 State except one; (2) that in 15 States 

 it is the chief fishery product, and (3) 

 that it is the most extensively cultivated 

 of our aquatic animals. 



The annual oyster output at this time 

 is about 37.000,000 bushels, with a value 

 to the producers of nearly $17,000,000. 

 The yield has increased 70 per cent in 

 quantity since 1880. Under the favor- 

 able conditions now prevailing, the out- 

 put is becoming larger year after year in 

 the country as a whole. The limit of 



production has perhaps been practically 

 reached in certain States, but in most 

 States the industry is capable of great 

 expansion. In recent years the South 

 Atlantic and Gulf States have experi- 

 enced a noteworthy augmentation of 

 yield as a result of increased apprecia- 

 tion of the oyster re-^ources and in- 

 creased encouragement given to oyster 

 culture. 



The seven leading oyster States at this 

 time are Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 

 York, New Jersey, Maryland, \'irginia, 

 and Louisiana, in each of which over a 

 million bushels of oysters are marketed 

 annually. \'irginia is the ranking State 

 as regards production, with over 6 mil- 

 lion bushels, followed by Maryland, with 

 over 5^ million bushels, and Connecti- 

 cut, with about 4 million bushels. As 

 regards value of oysters taken. Connec- 

 ticut and New York lead, with over 2^/2 

 million dollars each, followed by \ ir- 

 ginia and ^Maryland, with about 2^4 mil- 

 lion dollars each. In other words, an 

 average bushel of oysters in Connecticut 

 and New York brings the oysterman 80 

 cents, while a bushel in Maryland and 

 \'irginia brings less than 40 cents. 



CHESAPEAKE BAY IS THE WORLd's GREAT- 

 EST OYSTER GROUND 



The body of water which produces 

 more oysters than any other body of 

 water in the L'nited States or, in fact, in 

 the whole world is Chesapeake Bay. The 

 latest statistics of the oyster industry 

 show the preponderating importance of 

 the bay: an output of over 11 million 

 bushels, valued at more than $4,250,000, 

 or 30 per cent of the quantity and 25 per 

 cent of the value of the entire oyster 

 crop of the L^nited States for 1908. 



While the oyster yield of Chesapeake 

 Bay and tributaries in all recent years 

 has been considerably, less than formerly, 

 nevertheless the industry today is in a 

 healthier condition than ever before. 

 This apparently jiaradoxical statement is 

 explained by the fact that whereas in 

 earlier years a very large proportion of 

 the product was obtained from public 

 beds, whose depletion had already begun 

 and whose ultimate destruction was in- 

 evitable, now an annually increasing pro- 

 portion of the oyster output is taken 



