FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONER. . ■ 291 



and without ice or further attention they will reach their destination in 

 exactly the same condition as when they left the shipper. 



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" There is no food product as thoroughly inspected, both as to the 

 condition of the oyster itself and the utensils and environments in which 

 it is prepared for shipment to the retailer or consumer ; especially is this so at 

 the larger points of shipment. Competition is so keen that quality and 

 condition must be the very best and the very cleanliness of the premises 

 advertises the output. 



" The oystermen themselves are the most concerned in regard to the 

 question of sanitation, for on them devolves the task of giving the people 

 of the United States and elsewhere pure oysters. There is no class of pro- 

 ducers who consume more of their own products than the oyster-growers 

 and their families. When my father was unable to go about, being seriously 

 ill from infirmities incident to old age, I kept him supplied with oysters. 

 Just before he died he said ' My son, the oysters you sent me have pro- 

 longed my life; it was the only food I could relish and digest.' 



" The industry is peculiar in that the different localities engaged in 

 planting are independent for their changes of seed. Just a few years ago 

 there were large quantities of seed oysters taken from Long Island Sound 

 and transplanted in the waters of Virginia and New Jersey ; they grew well 

 and matured satisfactorily. During the last month a cargo was taken from 

 Chincoteague, Va., to Greenport, L. I., for planting purposes. 



" Having in mind the gentlemen present from so man) 7 of the oyster- 

 growing states, I will state without reservation that during all the investi- 

 gations at Washington of oysters from the Gulf of Mexico to the State of 

 Massachusetts, the oysters which carry the best, have the best flavor and 

 show the best condition at the end of long journeys, come from within a 

 radius of one hundred miles from New York. 



" In 1875 there was shipped by one concern to California 3,250 barrels 

 of oysters. In 1907 there was shipped by the same concern to California 



