Abstract
A REPORT from the British Consul at Baltimore on the oyster-fisheries of Maryland, which has just been laid before Parliament, contains much interesting information respecting the cultivation of oysters. The method of farming most successful in America consists in depositing clean oyster-shells upon the bottom, just before the spawning-season, to which the young attach themselves, and then placing among the shells a few mature oysters to furnish eggs and young. As soon as the young oysters caught in this manner are large enough to handle, they are distributed over the bottom. Another system is by artificial propagation, properly so called—that is, by producing the seed-oyster itself, or procuring it by methods less simple than the shell-sowing process. This method is due to a discovery by Dr. W. K. Brooks that the Ostrea virginiana, or American oyster, is not, like the Ostrea edulis, or oyster of Northern Europe, hermaphrodite, but is exclusively male or exclusively female. The eggs of the European oyster are fertilized within the valves of the parent, while in the case of the American oyster, fertilization takes place in the broad and open waters. By experiment Dr. Brooks discovered how artificial fertilization could be procured, and the next great step of finding a simple and practical method of rearing the young oysters which have been hatched artificially was the work of M. Bouchon Brandslé, the French naturalist, who experimented with Portuguese oysters, which, like the American variety, are of distinct sexes. He succeeded in rearing many seed-oysters fit for planting. Another highly important industry which is springing up in the United States, and which also owes its existence to a careful study of the habits of the bivalve, is that of “muzzling” oysters, by which they can be sent long distances in their shells with perfect safety. Until recently, the general practice was to pack the raw oysters in ice, but a sudden rise of temperature is liable to render a whole week's supply useless. Oysters feed twice a day; and always at the still moment preceding the turn of the tide, and at no other time, except when feeding, do they open their shells. When taken out of their natural element, they attempt to feed at regular intervals, and so soon as the shells open, the liquor they contain is all lost, the air takes its place, and the oyster is covered with a thick coating of slime, which is the first stage of decomposition. As long as the shells are closed, the oyster is fit to eat; it feeds on the liquor in the shell, and will thus keep in good condition for a considerable time. To secure the keeping of the shells closed, a method has been invented of tying them with stout wire, which can be done with great rapidity, and now arrangements are being made for despatching American oysters in their natural condition all over the civilized world.
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The Cultivation of Oysters . Nature 37, 572 (1888). https://doi.org/10.1038/037572a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/037572a0