Oyster bed

“ The first bed which you will generally find upon the water-worn surface of the chalk is a layer of green-sand and green-coated flints. Among these are met with in many places beds of a great oyster, now unknown in life. I cannot say whether there are any here; but at Reading, to the east of Farnham, at Croydon, and under London, they are abundant. There must have been miles and miles of oyster-bed at the bottom of that Eocene sea; among the oyster-beds, beds of a peculiar pebble, which we shall see in our gravel-pit.
They are flints ”

“ Shallow water's the only good place for an oyster-bed. There's lots of beds out in deep water, but that's because all the grounds near shore had already been staked out and their owners had to take deep-water grounds or none at all. But it's no place for oysters."
"There's Hardy's bed," urged Alec. "That's as far out as any of them and it's a good bed. With proper care it would be one of the best. I've been examining the water there, and it's full of spat."
"Nonsense, all nonsense," said the shipper impatiently. "Elsa has been pumping me full of rubbish about what you are doing. ”

“ As these monsters come in shoals, they sometimes inflict serious damage on an oyster-bed. Not long ago, at Keyport, New Jersey, a visit of this character cost the oyster-planters some $10,000. Said "an eminent naturalist," "No fish has teeth strong enough to crush oyster-shells." This is certainly a mistake. I believe that oystermen regard a three-year-old oyster as comparatively safe in this respect, and their apprehensions appertain to the younger beds. ”

“ I'd be willing to wager that you'd get as many oysters from spat in Hardy's bed as you would from the seed you planted. You'd get a tremendous catch every year."
"Fiddlesticks! I never heard of such a thing in a deep-water bed."
"But, Captain Rumford," protested Alec, "don't the other oystermen who own beds near Hardy's get good hauls?"
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"I can't deny some of them do," admitted the shipper, "but I can't understand it. That's no place for an oyster-bed, way out in that deep water. They can't expect to have luck always, though." ”

“ Some authorities claim that the oyster can hear. One cannot noisily approach an oyster-bed at feeding time without their hearing, and instantly every shell is closed. A cloud or a boat passing over an oyster-bank will cause every shell to close with proverbial tightness, and the sound of thunder will often kill them while they are in transit,—conclusive evidence that the nervous system in an oyster, while not highly developed, is of sufficient importance to merit attention from those who roughly handle oysters. ”

“ The oyster is raised in beds in the ocean, or bays often near the river mouth, and it is the neighborhood to the river that makes it possible for the oyster to carry germs of contagion, particularly of typhoid fever, when city sewage poured into the river passes over the oyster bed. Here, too, government protection is essential, and this is a matter that has created so much excitement that conditions are already improved. There is an association of oyster growers who make a point of advertising clean oyster beds, and cleanly methods of handling and transporting. ”

“ In fact some beds have constantly to be thus restocked, the young oysters produced on them not finding good places to attach themselves, and so swimming away. Sometimes pieces of slate, pottery, etc., are strewed about the oyster-beds to serve as "collectors," that is, as places for the attachment of the young oysters. The extent of the acreage of the American oyster-beds is larger than that of any other country. ”

“ That the oyster is a sluggard and objects to leave his bed seems pretty generally admitted; but that he is endowed with the power of locomotion has, fortunately for science, been placed beyond a doubt. Whether oysters shed their shells when they are crossed in love is a point on which the naturalist is still somewhat in the dark. ”

“ These rich food beds are not plentiful, and many dealers are compelled to put small oysters on the market. The Bureau of Fisheries has made a study of these food beds, and by using fertilizer, such as farmers use on their land, have been able to make such beds of sea-plants grow where they do not naturally exist. These experiments have been tried only a short time, but the results have been entirely satisfactory, and it is hoped that before long, rich oyster beds may be made to grow in any part of the ocean where oysters will thrive. ”

“ The oyster contains a tough muscle, by which it is attached to the shell; the body is made up largely of the liver (which contains glycogen, animal starch) , and is partially surrounded by fluted layers, which are the gills. Natural oyster beds (or banks) are found in shallow salt water having stony bottom, along the entire Atlantic Coast. The oyster industry of the world is chiefly in the United States and France, and on account of its increase many artificial beds have been prepared for oyster culture. Oysters are five years old before suitable for eating. ”

“ In point of fact oysters are eaten the year round, especially on the Atlantic coast, though to a very limited extent during the spring and summer months. Those who own their own oyster beds are privileged to take oysters at all seasons, and it is not unusual that a restaurant furnishes oysters during the whole year, those in the closed season being derived from private beds. ”

“ And then the tide sweeps 'em in and out, so I reckon they get scattered pretty much everywhere in the neighborhood of the oyster-beds."
"But how do they grow fast to old shells and other oysters if they have no shells themselves?"
"Oh! They get shells quick enough. And as soon as they do, they sink to the bottom and fasten themselves to the first clean rock or shell they come to. If they don't hit a rock or shell, they sink in the mud and die. Of course, there ain't no rocks on our mud bottom, and that's why we have to put shells on the beds. ”

“ Again, in some of the southern states of North America, large oyster-beds, which are sometimes of such magnitude as to form buttresses against the force of the tides and winds, originate from the habit of young oysters attaching themselves to the shells of old ones. ”

“ The immense oyster-beds in Pocomoke Sound, Maryland, have practically been destroyed by over-dredging, and many of the other beds of the United States are seriously damaged. The same is doubtless true of all the beds of Europe. It has also been demonstrated that under proper restriction great quantities of mature oysters, and seed oysters as well, may be taken from any region of natural oyster-beds without injurious effects. Parallel cases in agriculture and forestry will occur to every one. ”

“ In some of the French parcs, or artificial oyster-beds, the young oysters attach themselves to large unglazed tiles, or to faggots or other solid bodies which are placed in suitable situations for the purpose; in the English artificial beds hurdles are frequently employed, upon which the spat become deposited. ”

“ The dark spot in the fleshy body of the oyster is the digestive gland, or liver. The cut ends of the tough adductor muscles are noticeable in raw oysters. The starfish is very destructive in oyster beds. ”

“ There are now 12,500 acres of oyster-beds in the basin. Several thousand men and women are employed to attend them, and the average annual sale of oysters by the principal firm is over 200,000,000. As the majority are not sold under two years old, and these only for relaying, it is computed that there are usually 500,000,000 oysters of various ages upon these beds. The beds having been artificially made, the whole process of oyster-breeding can be witnessed there. ”

“ Oyster-beds are generally much nearer the shore than most kinds of shells. It is said to be when an oyster gets restless or uneasy that a strange substance enters the edge of the shell, and after a time a pearl is formed. And while many pearls are found in oyster-shells, they also are often found fastened to the pink bosom of a conch-shell. ”

“ You speculate on the luxury of wearing out a whole existence in bed, like an oyster in its shell, content with the sluggish ecstasy of inaction, and drowsily conscious of nothing but delicious warmth, such as you now feel again. ”

“ The more care that is taken in keeping their beds clean and free from mud, by washing the sides of the reservoirs, pouring water over the oysters, especially those which are dry, and removing the dead ones, which can be recognised by their shells being open, the better; for the more valuable will they be as human food, both as 39to profit and condition, and the more appreciated by the gastronomic million, who hail the oyster season as does a sportsman the advent of grouse and partridges, hares and pheasants. ”

“ Thus, knowing that the drift and mud oysters require different food from the rock oyster, it is easy to see why our oyster culturists have failed in establishing new beds of oysters in various places. ”

“ Then each boat or company makes their heap of oysters at some distance from each other, so that a long row of great heaps of oysters are seen piled along the shore. These are not touched till the fishing is over, when each company sits down beside its own heap, and fails to opening the oysters, which is now easy, as the fish within are all dead and dry. If every oyster had pearls in them, it would be a profitable occupation, but there are many which have none. ”

“ We can ketch twice as many oysters with power boats as we used to with sails, and we don't have room to carry 'em when we get a big catch. Some day they'll build oyster-boats of a new sort. They'll make 'em bigger and higher and have room in the hold where we can put oysters. Then we can catch 'em all winter."
"Don't you catch them in winter now?" asked Alec in astonishment, for he distinctly recalled eating oysters all through the winter season.
"We have to carry 'em on deck," explained Captain Bagley, "and in cold weather they freeze. Then we have to stop dredging. ”

“ In like manner they defend themselves against smaller animals, especially against the spider crab, which constantly tries to penetrate into their half open shells. Much natural instinct or foresight is also attributed to the oyster; in proof of which I may name that, when in a position which is exposed to the variations of the tide, oysters seem to be aware that they remain for some hours without water, and consequently provide it within their shells. ”

“ Nature, too, has given the oyster a sensitive perception of the changes of light as the means of its protection from the many enemies it has to contend with; for if the shadow of an approaching boat is thrown forward so as to cover it, it closes the valves of its shell before any undulation of the water can have reached it. ”

“ A little fresh water don’t hurt them; but snow water kills them, as it does other fish, outright. To most people, one oyster is just like another; but there are many different sorts, and each sort has a fancy for a particular place. The oyster gives us work for most months in the year; for when not fishing to sell, we are either dredging up the young oysters or laying them down again.”
It is calculated that one spawn oyster produces eight hundred thousand young ”

“ Divide them carefully, clear out the oysters with a knife, and put the shells into your aquarium, and you will find that an oyster at home is a very different thing from an oyster on a stall.
You ought, besides, to dredge many handsome species of shells, which you would never pick up along the beach; and if you are conchologizing in earnest, you must not forget to bring home a tin box of shell sand, to be washed and picked over in a dish at your leisure, or forget either to wash through a fine sieve, over the boat’s side, any sludge and ooze which the dredge brings up. ”

“ These currents of water not only bring food to the mouth of the bi-valve, but also irrigate the gill plates and so enable the animal to breathe. The oyster lies on the sea bottom with its muscle relaxed and its shell gaping.
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A North European oyster acts alternately as female and male. It produces eggs—as many as a million in a season—and a fortnight after the eggs have been shed, the same oyster produces millions of spermatazoa, which form a cloud of fine dust in the water. ”

“ The oyster, which possesses a complete digestive system, consisting of a mouth, stomach, intestine and liver, obtains its food from the minute organisms or particles of matter which flow into its mouth by the currents of water which pass through its gills. From the time of the Romans, who highly appreciated the oysters of Britain, this shell-fish has been a favourite delicacy, not only for its rich flavour, which depends upon its feeding ground, but also for the nutritive qualities it possess, making it especially useful for invalids. ”

“ The divers bring in the oysters from the fishing banks in the Gulf, and pile them on the shore in great heaps. Here they lie till they are rotted; and the stench that arises is enough to turn any inexperienced stomach. When the substance of the oyster is quite decomposed, the shells are opened, and the mass of matter they contain is thrown into tubs, and washed with water. ”

“ The Poole fishermen who open oysters in their boats for pickling are compelled, by an Act of the Legislature, to throw the shells on the strand, and these, in the course of time, have formed a strong barrier against the waves of the sea at the flow of the tide, having the appearance of an island at high-water ”