March, 191 1 



MAINE 



AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 



ORONO, MAINE. 



CHAS. D. WOODS, Director 



Analysts 

 James M. Bartlett Herman H. Hanson 



Albert G. Durgin Royden L. Hammond 



Alfred K. Burke 



Affinal inaji^rttotta. 



30 



OYSTERS. 



In the fall of 1907 many samples of oysters were obtained 

 from different places in the State and most of them were found 

 to be preserved with borax or some form of boric acid. These 

 cases were thoroughly investigated by hearings and correspon- 

 dence and while no prosecutions were made the effect of the in- 

 vestigation was apparant a year later when samples of oysters 

 were again collected in about a dozen of the cities and large 

 towns and no preservatives of any kind detected. 



Until recently, however, it has been the custom to float oysters 

 in . fresh or slightly brackish water in order to give them a fat, 

 plump appearance. The procedure simply bloated the oysters 

 and the customer purchased a good percentage of water at the 

 price of oysters, the water being invisible because inside the 

 oysters. This bloated condition was also obtained by the use 

 of ice in contact with the oysters, because when the ice melted 

 it produced a similar condition. This practice of adding ice 

 is particularly reprehensible because the oysters may become 

 polluted from the use of impure ice.' 



The floating of oysters is now regulated under the national 

 law, which forbids floating in water of less saline content than 

 that in which they can live and mature, and the addition of ice 

 directly to the oysters, either for shipping or displaying pur- 

 poses, is prohibited by both the national and state laws. 



