may be transplanted with advantage and profit to beds possessed of an environment more favorable for the adults. Whether cultch or seed be planted, the beds should be closely watched to protect them from enemies which sometimes work havoc unsuspected until the time comes to market the crop.
The United States Fish Commission is experimenting with a system of fattening oysters artificially, by using fertilizers to stimulate the production of oyster food in ponds. Good results have been attained, but the commercial feasibility of the method has not yet been demonstrated. The alleged method of fattening oysters by feeding with corn meal is worthless. ‘Plumping’ them by placing in fresh or nearly fresh water is a bloating and not a fattening treatment, and is less resorted to than formerly. Oysters should not be planted or bedded in the vicinity of sewage contamination, as they may thereby become sources of disease infection, but there is no danger to be anticipated from the consumption of oysters from beds remote from sources of contamination. Green oysters are sometimes placed on the market. There are three types of greenness, two of which are perfectly harmless. The third type is evidently a pathogenic condition, correlated with the presence of copper; but, while the affected oysters are poor in quality, it is not demonstrated that they are dangerous.
| OYSTER DEVELOPMENT. |
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1, Unfertilized egg shortly after mixture of spawn and milt; spermatozoa are adhering to the surface. 2, Same egg a few minutes after fertilization; polar body at broad end. 3, Optical section of egg 27 hours after impregnation, showing two large cells, covered by a layer of small ectodermal cells. 4, Optical section of an older egg, now become flattened from above downward. 5, An embryo with well-developed larval shells. |
In England oyster culture is practically along the same lines as in the United States. Shells are used to collect the spat, and seed-oysters are planted in favorable places, notably on the bottoms controlled by the Whitstable Company, a coöperative corporation. On the Continent the methods are more elaborate, the low price of labor and the high price of oysters, as well as the restriction of the area upon which they can be grown, tending to encourage an intensive system of culture. Tiles and fascines are generally used as spat-collectors, and especially in Holland and France a system of ponds or ‘claires’ is used for growing and fattening. Japanese methods somewhat resemble those of France and Holland in the recognition of a distinction between the bottoms used for spat-collection and for growing, although ponds are not used. Bamboo branches in regular arrangement are used for spat-collectors and the oysters are usually twice transplanted, first to a place favorable for rapid growth, and finally to beds especially rich in food, where they fatten.
Bibliography. Huxley, Oysters and the Oyster Question (London, 1883); Ingersoll, The Oyster Industry (Washington, 1887); Brooks, The Oyster (Baltimore, 1891); Dean, Report on the European Methods of Oyster Culture (Washington, 1893); Moore, Oysters and Methods of Oyster Culture (Washington, 1897); Herdmann and Boyce, Oysters and Disease (London, 1899); Pottier, Les huitres comestibles et l'ostréiculture (Paris, 1902). Also the reports of the several State oyster commissions, and especially the United States Fish Commission Reports and Bulletins.
OYSTER BAY. A town, popular both as a residence place and as a summer resort, in Nassau County, N. Y., 30 miles northeast of New York City, situated on the northern coast of Long Island, on a deep sheltered bay, opening into Long Island Sound (Map: New York, G 5). A line of steamboats and a branch of the Long Island Railroad connect Oyster Bay with New York. The town offers attractions of fine scenery, and facilities for boating, bathing, and fishing. It has many handsome residences and a public library. The principal industry is oyster cultivation. The government is administered by town meetings, held every two years. Population, in 1890, 13,870; in 1900, 16,334. Within the limits of Ovster Bay is the village of Sea Cliff. Population, in 1900, 1558. Oyster Bay is the home of President Roosevelt.
OYSTER-CATCHER, or Mussel-Picker. A long-legged shore-bird of the stilt family, having a long, hard, wedge-pointed bill. One species inhabits the northern part of the Old World, and another North America, but the term is occasionally extended to other related forms.
BEAK AND FOOT OF THE AMERICAN OYSTER-CATCHER.
The common one in the United States (Hæmatopus palliatus) is from 18 to 20 inches long, smoky brown above, with head and neck black, and white beneath. It is found on both coasts of both American continents, but rarely occurs north of New Jersey. It feeds on oysters, clams, and other mollusks, and breeds freely on the coast of Virginia. On the Pacific coast occurs an oyster-catcher (Hæmatopus Bachmani) which has no white in its plumage. Both of these feed largely on worms, crustaceans, and the like, as well as on mollusks. The European species (Hæmatopus ostralegus) is similar in all respects, and is known in Great Britain (where
