PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
355 
oysters and clams in transit during a snowstorm do not freeze as readily as when the 
weather is clear and a stiff wind prevails. 
The European trade in American oysters depends on shipments of live oysters. 
This began in 1861, and a trade lias been built up amounting to about 1()0,0(»0 barrels 
annually, small East River and Long Island oysters being selected, averaging 1,200 to 
2,000 to the barrel. The oysters are packed as snugly as possible iu the barrels, 
sometimes with the more concave shell underneath, to prevent escape of liquor, and 
all are pressed down tightly by the cover, to keep the shells of the oysters closed. 
In shipping, the barrels are stowed, head up, iu some part of the steamer where they 
may keep cool, and two or three weeks frequently elapse from the time of gathering 
them until their bedding or consumption iu England. 
A large proportion of the oyster trade on the Pacific coast depends on the trans- 
portation from Rew York of seed oysters, running from 2,000 to 7,000 to the barrel. 
These oysters are transported duriog the spring and fall, carefully packed iu barrels, 
iu carload lots, and are usually two or three weeks on the road, being carried on fast 
freight trains. Unless the weather conditions be unusual they survive the journey 
with small loss, usually about lOjier cent. It is not considered injurious if the liquid 
about the oysters freezes, provided the mollusk itself does not freeze. In illustration 
of the vitality of these small oysters it is stated that several years ago, in a shipment 
of several carloads, one car was misseut through some blunder, and on reaching San 
Francisco, after being two months on the way, the percentage of loss among the oysters, 
whi(‘.h were already partly frozen, was but little more than ordinary. The cost of 
the seed at New York is about $3.50 per barrel, and the transportation charges are 
about $5 per barrel. During some years as many as 100 carloads, of 85 to 95 barrels 
each, are planted in Pacific coast waters, principally in San Francisco Bay. 
In 1882 a patent* was issued for a somewhat unique method of preparing oysters 
and other mollusks for long shipments. It consists in binding the shells firmly 
together, while the mollusk is fresh and alive, by means of a wire or wires made to 
embrace the shells between which the animal is contained, the ends of the wire being 
secured by being twisted. It is claimed that by this process the natural juices are 
retained and the deterioration in quality which ensues upon their evaporation is 
prevented. 
Prof. John A. Ryder is quoted as indorsing the value of the method as follows: 
I have examined and had in iny possession a number of wired oysters, and I am satisfied that the 
oyster can be preserved, when the shells are thus wired, for a considerable length of time. I have 
carefully examined oysters, which I am satisfied have been wired for 60 days, and I find that their 
vitality is fully preserved and the oyster in no way deteriorated in quality or llavor. I think the 
process of preserving oysters by placing a wire around them is a practically useful process, and, in my 
opinion, would lead to the transportation of oysters to distant points as an article of commerce, when 
it would otherwise be impossible to transport them alive iu the shell. 
The method was employed on a small scale in Philadelphia for several years, and 
in 1888 a stock company was formed and a plant established at Cape Charles, Va. At 
first the work of wiring was done with pliers, but in 1890 special machines were intro- 
duced, by means of which one man has been known to wire 48 oysters in a minute, 
but the average is much less. The shipments extended quite over the country in an 
experimental way, many being sold on the Pacific coast. A few oysters are yet shipped 
in this manner, but the practice has not come into general use. 
*No. 26.5255, dated October 3, 1882. 
