38 OYSTER BOTTOMS OF MISSISSIPPI EAST OF BILOXI. 



are concerned, but when the people of the State at large are called on 

 to pay the bills, in whole or in part, it is a legitimate and proper subject 

 for consideration. 



Finally, the welfare of the pubhc beds and of those obtaining a live- 

 lihood from them is not threatened by the encouragement of oyster 

 culture, as with respect to them there need be no change in the policy 

 of the State. If care be taken to exclude the natural beds from leas- 

 ing, it is probable that they even may be benefited by oyster culture 

 on the barren bottom, and it is reasonably certain that, as has been the 

 case in other parts of the country, a number of those now working 

 on them will become oyster planters if opportunity be given them, thus 

 replacing their present more or less precarious and uncertain hvelihood 

 by a more assured and regular as well as more profitable calhng. 



It is not necessary to discuss in detail the methods of oyster culture, 

 as a special pamphlet^ on the subject may be obtained on apphcation 

 to the Bureau of Fisheries. It appears advisable, however, to indi- 

 cate briefly the two general methods open to prospective oyster grow- 

 ers in Mississippi, the planting, or more properly transplanting, of 

 young oysters from the natural or other beds and the deposit of shells 

 or similar materials to which the spat may attach. 



As has been shown in the preceding pages, certain of the beds are so 

 densely crowded with small oysters that few of them have chance to 

 develop into marketable stock. Transplanting ^ considerable number 

 of these from judiciously selected places to barren bottoms should 

 not only result in saving a considerable proportion of the plants but 

 would improve the living conditions of those left on the reefs and 

 permit them therefore to become as good as is possible under their 

 environment. For ordinary cannery purposes the seed oysters would 

 require but rough culling, but if it is desired to produce oysters for 

 shucking or shell stock the clusters should be weU broken up, so that 

 the individuals are not at all crowded as they grow. It is not neces- 

 sary to separate them into single oysters, and where the drumfish is 

 likely to occur it is advisable not to do so. In general, it is desirable 

 to plant seed oysters at least 2 inches long in the more salt water 

 where the driU is found, as those of smaller size and thinner shells 

 are likely to be killed. For the same reason spat setting on the 

 shells rarely survives in driU-infested regions, and the culled seed 

 is not Hkely to become overgrown with many young. Should oyster 

 culture reach considerable magnitude in the State, or the natural beds 

 become depleted of superfluous young, it wiU be necessary to resort 

 to shell or other cultch planting to secure a set of spat. This should 

 be conducted in the fresher waters where the drill is least hkely to be 

 found, and the material planted, in order to prevent the formation 

 of large clusters, should be in as small pieces as will suffice as collectors. 



a Oysters and methods of oyster culture. By H. F. Moore. Bureau of Fisheries Document No. 349. 



