FISHERIES OF THE NEW ENGLAND STATES. 377 



time seed oysters from Virginia were cultivated hy the planters of 

 Narragansett Bay, but the climate has been found to be too severe for 

 the southern product. 



The seed supply of 1898 was from the following sources: 



states. 



Connecticut... 

 Massachusetts. 

 Native 



Total. 



Bushels. 



393, 050 



* 11, 500 



15, 650 



Value. 



$257, 175 

 6, 325 

 5,230 



420, 200 



268, 730 



* Including a few seed from Greenport, N. Y. 



'The price for Connecticut seed ranged from 50 cents to 95 cents a 

 bushel, according to age, but the usual cost was 65 cents, including 

 - freight, which was generally 5 cents a bushel. Native seed brought 

 from 25 to 40 cents a bushel. Some of these were picked up by hand 

 at low tide along the shores. The Seakonk River is one of the chief 

 sources of native seed supply. These oysters, as well as the seed from 

 Somerset, Mass., are green when first taken from the water, and are 

 only used for planting purposes, but the green color disappears in a 

 short time after they have been transplanted. Some of the oyster- 

 planters from Connecticut raise their own seed oysters and transplant 

 them to the Rhode Island beds in the spring. 



Quite a number of oyster-planters sold shells during 1898, which 

 were used on roads, in gas works, and for planting purposes, the total 

 quantity sold by them being 127,900 bushels, worth $3,968. Others 

 did not sell any shells, having need for them on their own beds, and one 

 cultivator found it necessar}^ to buy 80,000 bushels. 



Starfish do not appear to be so destructive as formerly, owing to the 

 systematic and persistent manner in which the}^ are destroyed by the 

 oyster-planters, tangles being used for catching them. It would seem 

 that isolated beds suffer most from this enemy. Of 1,200 bushels of 

 seed planted in 1897 at Wickf ord only 300 bushels of marketable oys- 

 ters were secured, the remainder being destroyed by starfish. In 1898 

 27,362 bushels of starfish were caught by the oyster-growers of Narra- 

 gansett Bay, chiefly by those of Bristol and Providence counties. 



The mussel is another source of annoyance to the oyster-planter. 

 The usual method of destroying them is by exposing the oysters to 

 the sun until the mussels which are attached to them die and fall off. 

 The oysters are then returned to the water. This process is effective, 

 but is supposed to be more or less injurious to the oysters. If the 

 mussels are not removed, the oysters become poor and are also very 

 troublesome to open. 



The following table shows the extent of the oyster industry of Rhode 

 Island in 1898. 



