124 ELEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



Where he leaves off, man takes up the tale. The dredge and the tongs of 

 the jolly oysterman constitute the manifest destiny of a right-minded 

 oyster." 



Enemies of the Oyster. 



With the oyster set the planters always look for a set of starfish and 

 of other enemies of the oyster. 



In Long Island Sound, the starfish is the enemy most to be dreaded. 

 The set of stars seems to have some relation to the oyster set, and, in sea- 

 sons when the young oysters are abundant, the planters look for a like 

 abundance of stars. 



This fish is certainly an ill and evil star to the oyster and to its culti- 

 vators. At times covering the bottom to a depth of eighteen or twenty 

 inches and extending in solid bunches or masses over considerable areas of 

 ground, they are capable of blanketing entire beds of oysters in their slow 

 but sure advance, leaving not a living bivalve behind. They are very hardy 

 and tenacious of life, and may even be deprived of some of their limbs or 

 rays and regain these members by a new growth which makes good the loss. 

 Unless these pests are constantly attacked in season and out of season, and 

 their numbers reduced, they are sure to overwhelm and totally destroy the 

 oyster beds. This refers particularly to shellfish lands situated in Long 

 Island Sound, for it is true that there are some localities where compara- 

 tive freedom from this enemy is enjoyed. 



Many devices have been invented and used for the purpose of destroy- 

 ing the stars. The one now in general use by the planters is the star-mop 

 or tangle. It is made of cotton cords or strings, arranged in large tassels 

 or bunches, attached to a steel frame and drawn over the beds by means of 

 the dredging chains and machinery. The stars become entangled in the 

 meshes of these mops and are raised in large numbers. Mr. Herman D. 

 Pausch has made many experiments for the purpose of perfecting some 

 better plan of combating this scourge. He has found, he believes, a prac- 

 ticable method for use in localities where there is not too great a depth of 

 water. His plan is to make a continuous wall or ridge of lime along the 

 boundary of the bed to be protected. He has accomplished this by filling 

 paper bags with quick lime and dropping these bags along the line. The 

 paper serves to hold the lime from being carried away by tides while 



