382 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[May 31, 1885. 



English; fortunately the writer has been enabled to discuss 

 with hini in his mother tongue quite fully his methods and 

 designs, which show him to be not only an ahle fishculturist, 

 but also a competent draughtsman and engineer. 



Mr. Swetitsch, uow residing temporarily in Hoboken, 1ST, J,, 

 has related to the -writer lus interesting and important ex- 

 periences in organizing and equipping two establishments for 

 Count Moritz Palfy, and another for Count Stefan Keglowitz, 

 both in Hungary. ' Cotr?t Palfy, from whom Mr. S. bears the 

 most flattering testimonials, has the most extensive establish- 

 ment in Hungarv. Mi'. Swetitsch also organized and built an 

 establishment for Mr. Frederick: Busse, in North Germany, 

 but the establishment of Mr. Ebrecht, at Scharnstedt, is by 

 far the most interesting, from the circumstance that the pro- 

 prietor contracted with Mr. Swetitsch to build and equip his 

 establishment with the guarantee that it should yield ten per 

 centum per annum upon the capital invested. Not only was 

 this accomplished, but was even exceeded, under conditions 

 admitted not to have been the best possible for trout culture. 

 The designer of this establishment informs me that trout can 

 be raised at a cost of about twenty-three cents per pound, if 

 sent to market dead; they are sold in Germany at sixty cents 

 per pound ; sent alive they bring a much higher price, viz., S3 

 per pound. 



The establishment at Scharnstedt is arranged with a suite 

 of 124 ponds. The aggregate length of the series is 1,000 

 meters and its width 100 meters. Springs feed the poods; 

 some additional water is also obtained from two pumps 

 operated by windmills. The temperature of the water is 

 47 degrees F. in winter and 5(5 degrees F. in summer. Each 

 pond may be emptied independently of every other by m3ans 

 of an ingeniously contrived system of piping and sluice-ways. 

 The work is supervised with the greatesc thoroughness by 

 experts, and the eggs and fry are counted and registered in 

 books kept for that purpose." At every transfer of the young 

 fish, as they grow larger, an account is kept, and a record 

 made so that the loss from mortality is known with the great- 

 est exactitude at every stage of the growth of the fishes. It 

 is then so arranged 'that with increasing age and size the 

 growing fish are given more and more room in proportion to 

 their dimensions as they are transferred from pond to pond in 

 the great series. In the last of the series, or in those remotest 

 from the hatchery, are found the full-grown, marketable fish. 



It is obvious from what has been said above that the work 

 at Scharnstedt is not an experiment but a commercial suc- 

 cess, and that the work is conducted upon scientific as well as 

 business principles, which are applicable the world over. The 

 transportation of the living fish to the markets is also accom- 

 plished in an ingenious and simple way, which would be well 

 worthy of more extensive imitation in this country, and 

 would' doubtless be the means of affording both the culturists 

 and dealers increased profits, as has been found to be the case 

 in New Y ork. 



The foregoing notes are not intended to convey the impres- 

 sion that American methods have not been successful; on the 

 contrary, it is merely the intention to again point out to the 

 skeptical that such a thing as fishculture as a business enter- 

 prise is feasible, and, be it remembered, with species the cul- 

 ture of which has not yielded the largest measure of success to 

 those who have undertaken their culture in this country. 



The successes of such American fish culturists as Garlick, 

 Ainsworth, the Clarks. Stone, Atkins, Mather and Green, are 

 too well known to need comment from one who does not pre- 

 tend to skill in this direction. It is only Mr. Swetitsch's pres- 

 ence among us, and the interesting data and attested records 

 which he brings with him that leads me to assume the role of 

 apologist for an industry which should have long since engaged 

 more capital than it now employs. I am informed that the 

 quintessence of fishculture consists in permitting the compe- 

 tent superintendent or Fischmeister to have absolute and un- 

 restrained control of all the details of pond construction and 

 their subsequent management if financial success is to be ex- 

 pected. That the Salvelinus foutinalis or American brook 

 trout grows faster than the S. fario of Europe is an interesting 

 fact, and one which is very significant in this connection. 



John A. Ryder. 

 "Washington, May 15, 1885. 



THE NORTH CAROLINA OYSTER INDUSTRY. 



[Concluded from page 993.] 



Supposing then that the State recognizes the principle and 

 does its part, what is the next step to be taken in order to in- 

 crease the supply? Naturally, under the new order of things, 

 this is a problem to be solved by each individual oyster cultur- 

 ist for himself. But some general directions and advice can 

 be given. First let us look over the natural conditions under 

 which oysters live. Let us understand something about the 

 animal we propose rearing. 



In the American oyster the sexes are separated; that is, the 

 animals are male and female. During the spring and summer 

 months the generative organs, the "spermanis" in the male 

 and the "ovaries" in the female, become distended and filled 

 up with ripe generative fluids, known as "spermatizoa" in the 

 former and "ova" in latter. As these two fluids ripen they are 

 expelled into the water by the animals; but each individual 

 performs Ins function without reference to auy other in the 

 community, and it may, and possibly does happen, that one 

 sex may expel all its fluid some time before the other. After 

 the expulsion, should the male fluid meet with the eggs of the 

 female, it immediately attacks them, the eggs are fertilized 

 and the life of the oyster may be said to begin. But this con- 

 tact of eggs and male cells must occur very soon after the 

 fluids have been expelled from the parent oysters, for the life- 

 time of the spermatizoa is limited to a few hours, and that of 

 ova or eggs to a few minutes after exposure to the water. 

 Here enters the first evil influence. Though the female oyster 

 expels from 10,000,000 to 60,000,000 eggs, yet several days are 

 consumed before the act of expulsion is complete, and it can 

 readily be seen that a large number of these nnllious of eggs 

 may fail to meet the male fluid at the proper moment, and 

 for want of fertilization, will be destroyed. Indeed, from 

 this and other causes, it is estimated that fully 15,000,000 

 eggs perish for one that survives. After the egg, a mere speck, 

 l-500th of an inch in diameter and invisible to the naked eye, 

 has met the male fluid and been fertilized, it sinks to the bot- 

 tom and begins its development; in from ten to twenty hours 

 it is supplied with swimming powers and begins an exceedingly 

 rapid, erratic motion through the water. This swimming 

 period varies in duration from one to several days, but as the 

 development of the little animal is continuous, and as the frail 

 embryo of the shell continually grows and becomes heavier, 

 the power of movement gradually diminishes and the buoy- 

 ancy of the animal decreases. Finally it sinks to the bottom, 

 or fastens to some object in the water, and becomes fixed for- 

 ever; just where or how this fixation occurs we are as yet un- 

 able to say. Probably no very great period elapses after the 

 fertilization of the egg before it becomes fastened, but as dur- 

 ing this period the animal is moving about, more or less, in 

 the water, exposed to tides, currents, winds and waves, it is 

 evident that the longer the interval between the expulsion of 

 the eggs from the. body of the parent and the time of fixaticn, 

 the greater the chance of the dispersion of the young brood. 

 The free-swimming period, as it is called, is the one most full 

 of hazard to the young. A change of a few degrees of tem- 

 perature will kill them, and a slight variation in the density of 

 the water will have a like effect; fishes, crabs, shellfish, and in 

 fact nearly all mariue animals, consciously or unconsciously, 

 devour enormous numbers of them ; they are so small that an 

 ordinary drop of sea water can hold one hundred in active 

 motion, and a quart of water left stagnant in some hole on a 

 beach may easdy contain embryo oysters exceeding in number 

 .he population of the State. "If the swimming embryo has 

 urvrve'd all the dangers it encounters while at large in the 



water, it still may be unfortunate in finding a final resting 

 place. It will fasten itself to many objects, but three condi- 

 tions are absolutely necessary. 



The object must be moderately rough, moderatelv hard and 

 exceedingly clean. Obviously these conditions do not exi-t in 

 mud, sand or grass, and hence mud, sand and grass hold no 

 oysters. But where shells, stones, branches of trees, piles of 

 wharves and bridges, and innumerable other objects that are 

 hard and rough, are exposed in the water near an oyster-bed, 

 provided they are clean, the young oysters will settle and 

 fasten to them in large numbers. Once fastened, the valves 

 of the shell, indeed the whole oyster, begins to grow at au 

 enormous rate, and in a year will have advanced an inch or 

 two in diameter. This growth, though continuous, gradually 

 diminishes from year to year, but is sufficiently rapid to make 

 the Virginia oyster marketable iu from three to four years, 

 when it is, on an average, from three to four inches in length. 

 Though the growth during the first year is so rapid, yet the 

 shells are very thin and delicate, and easily destroyed by the 

 many enemies that prey upon the oyster. Therefore this first 

 year of existence is a precarious one, and more than 50 per cen t. 

 of the young oysters perish in passing through it. The mor- 

 tality during the second and third years is about 30 per cent. 



Having followed the individual oyster from the egg to ma- 

 turity it now remains to show the 'manner of life of a com- 

 munity known as an oyster bed. The original formation of 

 the bed must have occurred somewhat in this way: The em- 

 bryo oysters, drifting about during the swimming period, 

 came in contact with some suitable substance, such as a heap 

 of stones or shells, lying at the bottom of the river or estuary, 

 and fastened themselves to such portions as had been swept 

 clean by the current. Year after year these oysters grew and 

 sent forth "spat" or young, which became attached to the 

 shells of the parents; thus the community increased steadily 

 in numbers, and as they increased they attracted enemies, and 

 many were devoured ; many others perished for want of room 

 for development, and the empty shells were probably swept 

 by the current some little distance beyond the borders of the 

 bed, thus affording new material for the annual brood to set- 

 tle upon. Thus the bed was slowly extended, accidental cir- 

 cumstances occasionally assisting "or retarding the growth 

 until at last all the available ground was covered, that is, soft, 

 muddy, or sandy bottoms, very shoal water, grass or weeds 

 were reached, where oysters could not live, and necessarily 

 all further expansion ceased. Future growth was not of area 

 but of numbers, and generation after generation would be 

 deposited upon one another until the strata of oysters became 

 too thick to permit the further existence of the first genera- 

 tion. When this occurred the bed may be said to have reached 

 its limit of natural increase. 



While this growth in area and numbers is going on, the com- 

 munity has to battle with numerous enemies and destiuctive 

 influences. Freshets may bring down heavy deposits of mud 

 or vegetable matter, which by covering the. oysters and shells 

 not only destroys the living animals by smothering them, but 

 prevents the attachment of the young brood. Severe winters 

 may pde great masses of ice on the beds and destroy every 

 oyster in shoal water. A very cold or very warm spring and 

 summer may so interfere with the formation and emission of 

 the generative fluids that the spawning season will be a com- 

 plete failure. Heavy rains and continued freshets may not 

 only have a like influence, but may also cause the destruction 

 of large numbers of marketable oysters by forcing them to 

 consume a large quantity of fresh water. Heavy gales may 

 sweep sand, mud or vegetable material over the beds, thus 

 destroying mature oysters and preventing the advent of the 

 young brood All these are accidents that may and do occur 

 at any time, but whose presence or absence cannot be safely 

 predicted. 



But besides such disadvantages, the community has con- 

 stantly to struggle with the elements that make the oyster 

 their natural food. These are too numerous to mention in 

 detail, but comprise several fishes. Nearly all the carnivor- 

 ous, gasteropods or sea snails, and many species of crabs and 

 star fishes. 



Besides the direct depredations of active enemies, the oyster 

 has to contend in the struggle for existence with innumerable 

 marine animals that seek the same food and five under the 

 same conditions. Among these are nearly all the large bivalve 

 mollusks, such as clams, mussels, etc., and many gasteropods 

 and crustaceans that are not in other ways harmful. It, there- 

 fore, can readily be seen that in so closely settled a community 

 of various species of animals a very exact balance is main- 

 tained. The conditions necessary to" life, such as the amount 

 of food, are constant. Only so many lives can be supported, 

 and evidently, if the number of one species diminishes, the 

 number of other species will tend to increase. That is, if the 

 number of oysters diminishes, the mussels, clams and other 

 shellfish will become more numerous, and the places of the 

 defunct oysters will be occupied by other animals. This is a 

 principle of considerable importance and deserves considera- 

 tion in any scheme looking to the recuperation ot an oyster- 

 bed. 



Now, how are we to utilize this knowledge of the annual, its 

 habits, its manner of life? If we intend establishing an artifi- 

 cial oyster bed, we know that we must first stock our ground 

 with a considerable number of mature oysters. We also know 

 that this ground must be suitable, first, forthemature oysters; 

 second, for the yo ung brood. In other words, we must render 

 our ground hard enough to keep the old oyster from sinking and 

 being smothered, clean enough to insure the attachment of 

 the spat, and sufficiently prolific of food to support the colony. 

 The proper conditions of water have also to be considered. 

 Generally speaking, a moderately hard bottom, consisting of 

 clay, with a light covering of mud or sand, is preferable ; but 

 almost any bottom hard enough to support the oyster will 

 answer. The character of the current must also be considered. 

 It must be swift and strong enough to convey the minute 

 forms of life which compose the food of the oyster: swift and 

 strong enough also to carry off any sediment likely to be de- 

 posited. Yet not so swift nor so strong that the animals will 

 be moved by it. It is also necessary that the area should be 

 protected from the effect of a heavy sea, such as are raised 

 by gales of wind. This is a very important point. 



Having selected the ground, the oyster culturist has two 

 methods of procedure open to him. He can obtain small seed 

 oysters, six months old, and spread them out over his ground 

 to grow to a remarkable size. That process is a very simple 

 one and requires but little elaboration or care. But evidently 

 it is directly dependent for its original supply upon some other 

 area; and in attempting to largely increase the production in 

 North Carolina Witters it would be wise to depeud upon the 

 already producing beds as little as possible, for they have little 

 to spare even now. The second method is to take advantage 

 of our knowledge of the habits of the oyster, especially the 

 young or spat, and attempt to raise more than nature unas- 

 sisted can accomplish. As this method is probably new to 

 you in North Carolina, I will briefly describe the operation as 

 practiced in the North. A tract of bottom having been suit- 

 ably prepared by covering it with a layer of sand, gravel, 

 shells, or other substances which will support the oysters, a 

 number of large, spawn-bearing animals are spread over the 

 ground during the spring months. In the summer, just before 

 the spawning season begins, a large quantity of shells are 

 scattered over this same tract. It is particularly necessary 

 that these shells should be clean and free from slime or mud. 



From what I have told you of the habits of the young or 

 spat you will readily foresee the object of this operation, f he 

 young, when about to attach, find conveniently located a large 

 number of clean, suitable material, and naturally a much 

 larger attachment occurs than would be the case if natural 

 conditions alone were maintained. In fact, so great is the at- 

 tachment at times, that the oyster farmer is compelled to go 

 oYer his ground before the end of the first year, and several 



times subsequently, thinning out his crop and transplanting 

 his stock to areas less thickly populated, where they will have 

 more room for development. Nor is his labor ended then; 

 each successive season before his harvest can be reaped brings 

 him accessions to his crop; the transplanting, therefore, must 

 be continuous. But what I wish you to particularly observe 

 is, that he has taken a barren area of bottom and has turned 

 it into an oyster bed. He has increased the supply to an ex 

 tent out of all proportion to his original draft upon it. That 

 is exactly what you want here— vour need is, that your 3,000 

 acres should be increased to 300,000 acres; that your product 

 should be not 170.000 bushels, but 17,000,000 bushels. 



It is evident, however, that this work of cultivating some 

 300,000 acres of bottom cannot be undertaken by the State. It 

 would involve an annual expense of about Si. 000. 000, and no 

 State could spend or would be justified in spending such a 

 sum. Equally evident is it that private individuals" will not 

 pay any such enormous capital into a business which, in addi- 

 tion to all other risks, permits the profit to be reaped by the 

 general public. 



If, then, the 300,000 acres are to be added to the present do- 

 main and the present product increased to ten and twenty 

 million bushels, only private persons will do it, and private 

 persons will not sow a crop which they have no certainty of 

 harvesting. What must be kept steadily in mind is the result 

 to be obtained. In other words, how to get 300,000 acres un- 

 der cultivation; how to produce 17,000,000 bushels per annum. 



I do not mean to say that this is an easy thing to do or that 

 it can be accomplished in a day. But it can be done. Indeed 

 it will be done if you are but wise. Not so very wise either; 

 but just a little bit wiser than the Maryland and Virginia 

 people. It will not do to overlook the manv obstacles that 

 are to be encountered. It will not do to overestimate the 

 value of your natural advantages. Candidly speaking they 

 are not, at present, very great Your waters do not, generally, 

 produce the highest grade of oyster. You have a warm cli- 

 mate which renders transportation difficult and hazardous. 

 You have no great market in close proximity to the oyster 

 ground. You are remote from the great oyster-consuming 

 centers. You have not an abundant supply of labor and such 

 as you do possess is not of the best quality. You have no 

 readily reached machine, shops for the repair of engines and 

 apparatus. Nor have you close at hand sufficient supplies of 

 coal and stores. Butjyou have one thina which just now is 

 worth all the rest. You have the opportunity. 



If you but take advantage of it, you will have done much 

 to bring about the desired end. Unable to compete with Ches- 

 apeake in natural conditions — unable to compete with Mary- 

 land and Virginia in the commercial advantages at present 

 offered by the two States, you can at least compete with them 

 in the liberality and wisdom of your laws. While they are 

 waiting to be taught by bitter experience that the Chesapeake 

 fishery cannot be an exception from the operation of the gen- 

 eral law, you may take time by the torelock, and adoptthe 

 principle which the history of all oyster fisheries shows to be 

 essential to success, and which Maryland and Virginia wilfully 

 ignored. That principle may be concisely put. It is well- 

 known to all political economists as the very key-stone of all 

 progress and material success. It is the principle of owner- 

 ships in severalty as opposed to ownerships in common. That 

 principle once recognized in relation to oyster ground and all 

 possible development will follow. That principle ignored, and 

 not only will there be no development, but certain destruction 

 of existing beds will most certainly ensue. The elaboration of 

 the principle so as to meet the practical requirements of this 

 particular locality, I will not here and at this time attempt. 

 But I would earnestly impress upon you, and I hope you will 

 as earnestly impress it upon others, iny conviction that a great 

 opportunity now offers for North Carolina to obtain an advan- 

 tageous position in the oyster industry of the country; and 

 that the only possible maimer in which' this opportunity can 

 be fully utilized for the benefit of the State is by liberal en- 

 couragement to private enterprise to enter this field. 



Ihe MmwL 



FIXTURES. 



BENCH SHOWS. 



May 19, 20, 31 and 22.— Show of the Philadelphia Kennel Club. P. A. 

 Dififtnderfer, Superintendent, Philadelphia. Pa, 



June 2, 3. 4and6.— First Annual Dog bhow oi the Illiuois Kennel 



Club. John H. Naylor, Secretary, 3.182 Archer avenue, Chicago, 111. 



FIELD TRIALS. 



Nov. 16. 1885.— Seventh Annual Field Trials of the Eastern Field 

 Trials Club. High Point, N. C. Entries for Derby close May 1. W. 

 A. Coster, Secretary, Flatbush, L I. 



Dec. 7.- Seventh Annual Field Trials of the National Field Trials 

 Club, Grand Junctiou. Tenn. Entries for Derby close April 1. B. M. 

 Stephenson, La Grange, Tenn., Secretary. 



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 



THE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration of 

 pedigrees, etc. (with prise lists of all shows and trials), is pub- 

 lished every month. Entries close on the 1st. Should be in early. 

 Entry blanks sent on receipt of stamped and addressed envelope. 

 Registration fee (50 cents) must accompany each entry. No entries 

 inserted unless paid in advance. Yearly subscription gl.&O. Address 

 'American Kennel Register," P. O. Box 2832, New York. Number 

 of entries already printed 2386. 



THE W. K. C. SHOW. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Now that the W. K. C. show is over and gone, I feel like 

 saying that it was by all odds the most enjoyable I ever 

 attended. It was especially interesting as a study of dogs. To 

 see the same swarm of setteis, pointers, collies, mastiffs, etc., 

 over and over again, is surely no chance for study, and the 

 novelties at New York were decidedly interesting; for instance, 

 that pair of braques. 1 do not believe that the breed has ever 

 been shown here before. I suppose pointer fanciers thought 

 them worthless brutes; so they may be for all I know of 

 pointers, but they looked as though they were an ancient race 

 from which the pointer may have been evolved, and I thought 

 that I could see where and how an admixture of foxhound 

 and terrier blood could produce our pointer from these braques. 



Then the bloodhounds were a revelation to me. I have 

 always wondered where our native "Virginian" hound could 

 have'gotton his head, ears and general type, so different from 

 the English hound After seeing these bloodhounds, that 

 conundrum is easily guessed. That "Russian" collie of Mayor 

 Grace's was another curiosity. He looked like a pure bred 

 do°- of a strain distantly related to our present collie, perhaps 

 starting with the same root, but bred in a different direction; 

 he could hardly be a mongrel, he had that indescribable look 

 of "well bred," although I do not take much stock in the 

 "Russian" business; that looks like some sailor's yarn. Who 

 owned that beautiful brindle gray dog midway between a 

 mastiff and a boarhound with uncropped ears? He was being 

 led around by a keeper every time 1 saw him. and he had no 

 number on. I suppose he was a mongrel, but as fine a set of 

 legs and as powerful symmetrical a body I do not thiuk I ever 

 saw on a dog; he was 'just what Capt. Graham is hunting for 

 in the "Irish wolfhound," able to catch a wolf, and to smash 

 him when caught. That mastiff puppy Duke was a puzzle to 

 me - his pedigree does not give any recent importations, but 

 where did he get his compact frame, excellent head, pale 

 brown mask and ears (and alas, his straight hocks) from, but 

 from the Crown Prince fitter? 



