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Photograph from U. S. Bureau of Fisheries 

 TWO HUNDRED MILLION LOBSTER EGGS INCUBATING IN TLIE AUTOMATIC HATCHING 

 JARS AT A NEW ENGLAND LOBSTER STATION OF THE 

 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



aside from their excellent flavor and 

 large size, was due chiefly to the vast 

 area of the oyster beds. The mainte- 

 nance of that rank, however, has depend- 

 ed on oyster culture. Whenever the oys- 

 ter fishery has been active, the necessity 

 for artificial measures to maintain the 

 supply has sooner or later become ob- 

 vious, and at present about half a million 

 acres of bottoms covered by salt or 

 brackish water are being cultivated as 

 oyster farms. 



Although about 50 per cent of the 

 quantity and 70 per cent of the value of 

 our annual oyster crop are derived from 

 planted grounds, and such product is 

 larger than in all the remainder of the 

 world, it is a significant fact that in no 

 other important oyster-producing country 

 is so large a proportion of the oyster out- 

 put derived from natural beds. 



Some of the States have only slowly 

 appreciated the advantages that accrue 

 from oyster farming and have been loath 

 to abandon principles of oyster manage- 

 ment that long since became obsolete. 

 The welfare of their ovster industry has 



thus been greatly impaired, while more 

 progressive States have reaped large ben- 

 efits from the general adoption and en- 

 couragement of private oyster planting 

 instead of continuing to depend on the 

 diminishing output of depleted natural 

 beds. 



Oyster culture as practiced in America 

 consists essentially of the following fea- 

 tures : ( 1 ) Acquiring from the State, by 

 lease or purchase, suitable submerged 

 bottom; (2) cleaning and otherwise pre- 

 paring that bottom, if necessary, for the 

 growth of oysters; (3) sowing thereon 

 oyster shells or other similar material, 

 technically known as "cultch," for the at- 

 tachment of the young oysters ; (4) in- 

 suring the set of "spat," or larval oysters, 

 by having adult oysters on contiguous 

 bottom; (5) protecting the beds from 

 starfishes, drills, and other natural ene- 

 mies; (6) transplanting the oysters to 

 prevent overcrowding and to facilitate 

 growth and fattening, and (7) culling 

 and sorting for market. 



The United States Government, through 

 the Bureau of Fisheries, while exercising 



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