The oyster industry . ho paid this year about 40 cents a bushel. There is no difficultj^ in securing such a supiily of spawnevery season. The abundance of seed-oysters iu this bay formerly is liroverbial. I was assured by more than oneperson, that years go it was the custom, at the beginning of the season, to anchor a scow upon the ground and notmove all day. Continuous tonging in one spot, from sunrise to sunset, would not exhaust the bottom. The seed layseveral inches deep, ajiparently, and from 100 to 200 bushels could be caught by one nmn in a single day. Now theseed is far thinner, but th
The oyster industry . ho paid this year about 40 cents a bushel. There is no difficultj^ in securing such a supiily of spawnevery season. The abundance of seed-oysters iu this bay formerly is liroverbial. I was assured by more than oneperson, that years go it was the custom, at the beginning of the season, to anchor a scow upon the ground and notmove all day. Continuous tonging in one spot, from sunrise to sunset, would not exhaust the bottom. The seed layseveral inches deep, ajiparently, and from 100 to 200 bushels could be caught by one nmn in a single day. Now theseed is far thinner, but the beds are spread over a largely increased area, due to incessant tonging. Adjoining Great Egg Harbor and the neighboring coast is Upper township. South of it lies Dennis, whichstretches across to tlie Delaware bay, and is bounded southerly by Townsends inlet. My information in respect toboth is chiefly from Mr. Peter Watkius, a shipper, and one of the largest planters iu the district. Ii 1 .sic ?^ .0 > XXX <D. m f5 -3 a -5 o THE OYSTER-INDUSTRY. 141 Dennis township contains Dennis creek and West creek on its Delaware side, both of which abound in a naturalgrowth of oysters every year, and in neither of which, consequently, is there any i)lauting, more than perhaps a littledesultory laying out in tributary creeks for private use. The laws of 1857 forbade dredging for oysters iu Denniscreek, aud forbade any taking of oysters from natural beds there to be sold outside of Cape May county, with anespecial injunction against nonresidents. The natural oysters caught there grow in the mud, in a crowded condition,and hence aie long, slender, aud strap-shaped. They get the name Stuckups in consequence. Their shells are weakaud thin, because of an absence of carbonate of lime in the soil of the surrounding region. The water here is veryfresh; but the best of the full-grown oysters are annually peddled about the neighborhood, and regarded as ofsuperior quality as a fresh oyster. The
Size: 1145px × 2182px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, bookpublisherwashi, bookyear1881
