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Ulllt']. ‘JLL u ...... The United States is particularly fortunate in its oyster supply. The output here is larger and more valuable than elsewhere. Moreover on account of the relative low cost valves. The oyster growers of Long 15-- land Sound and adjacent waters suffer heavy losses from the in- roads of starfishes. which. moving in waves over the bottom. devour every oyster in their path. In a single season they have been known to destroy in one state several hundred thousand bushels of marketable oysters. It seems strange at first that a weak creature like the starfish should be able to prey on an animal so strongly fortified as an oyster. The starfish attaches itself to the lips of the oyster shell and exerts a steady and long-sustained suc- tion with each of its numerous small suckers. After a time the powerful adductor muscle of the oyster becomes fatigued. the valves open, and the starfish in- serts its stomach. a‘nd devours the helpless oyster at leisure. Other enemies of the grown oys- ter are fishes with powerful jaws armed with crushing teeth. On the Atlantic coast the most destruc- tive fish is the black drum, 3 school of which may virtually clean out an oyster bed in one night: on the Pacific coast a species of the sting ray is the chief offender; ‘ L' â€"__‘-_.1.. >Q~AV vv----â€"â€"vvâ€"_- The human animal is not the only one that looks with favor upon the edible qualities of the oyster. At every stage in its career it is attacked by a horde of dangerous enemies, some of which are most destructive after the oyster has put on its stoutest armor. Before the young oyster attaches itself, it is extensively consumed by adult ovsters and various other shellfish. as well as by fishes that strain their food from the water. When the oyster attains its shell, 21 new set of shellfish enemies. provided with drills, begin their attacks and ex- trazt the soft parts through m n- ute holes that they make .n the A taining a size that is visi_ e to the naked eye, they are not able to change their position. When the temperature, density, tides and currents are favorable. the floating young go to the botâ€" tom and become attached to the shells of old oysters or to any other hard surfaces that may be mesent: but all that fall on a muddy or soft sandy bottom or on slimy surfaces soon perish. Modern oyster culture aims prim- arily to save the free-swimming young, and oyster planters there- fore provide clean shells. tiles. and other hard obiects, to which the “spat”, as the young oysters are called. can attach themselves. Oysters have been under culture longer than any other shellfish- A simple type of cultivation flourâ€" ished in China at a very remote period and probably antedated by some centuries the beginning of oyster culture in Italy, which was about the year 100 B .C. With the increasing demand for oysters, they came to be cultivated in all the important maritime countries of Europe. In other parts of the Old World and in the Western Hemisphere. the growing of oys- ters by artificial means has be- come an important industry. so that to-day oysters are the most extensively :ultivated of all ac- quatic animals. ‘ ‘ 1 Li _ Oysters occur in greater or less abundance on the shores of all temperate and tropical seas. but the supply in the arms of the North Atlantic Ocean exceeds that in all other Waters combined. There are at least a hundred diz- ferent Kinds or species of oysters. with a Wide range in habits, flavor, shape and size. All the oys- ters on the eastern and southern coasts oi the United States belong to one species, which has, however many local varieties; the lttle, native oyster of the Pacific States '3 of a wholly different species. In about thirty-five countries oyster farming is a special in- dustry The annual oyster crop of the world now amounts to more than forty million bushels, for which the fishermen and planters receive about twenty-five million dollars. The United States fur- nishes nearly ninety wt. of With the coming of September the oyster season Opens over a large section of the United States, and for a period of eight months the nppetizing bivalve reigns suâ€" preme as the most extensiV e1} consumed product of the Water: but millions of the people who eat the oyster know little or nothing of its life history or of the vast industry that the oyster SUpports. Of all the products of the water. oysters are, with the single ex- ception of the sea herrings the most important to the human race. They owe that economic preeminâ€" ence to the fact that they have high food value and that they are palatable, cheap p, Widely distribut- ed and easy to cultivate. I §§§§§§§§§§§§””MW :Of oysters to the consumer in the limited States; the consumption in " fnroportion to the total population Oysters the MOSt is greater than .n any of the other ’leading oyster-producing countries Valuable Water Crap: On? annpal mm 093.9% is - .1-‘ §§§§N§§§§§§§+§§§N§§§§§§§ 'stv' Hugh M. Smith United States Commissionex of Fishnitsn August 31, 1916. frts A prevalent practice among oysâ€" suc- ,ter growers in some regions is to rous ;transf.er oysters from salt ~to the brackish water for a short time the before ship-ping them to market. the The oysters rapidly absorb the . in- 3fresher water, and the more saline the ffluids in their tissues rap-idly pass gout. That process, known as ovs- .“plumping,” “floating” or “fatten- jaws ' ing" makes the oysters swell to Lthejthe full capacity of the shell, but rucgadds nothing to their food value 3*or flavor. On the contrary, it ex- lal1v§tracts certain nutritious ingredi- one iéents and rep-laces them with water. . a Chemical tests show that that sad- the glv misnames process of “fattening” |although it increases the weight .arlv I of the oysters from ten to twenty The ; per cent., deprives them of from more :ten to fifteen per cent. of their over'food value. cost‘ More serious, however, than the ; Of the oysters now marketed, 50 per cent. come from private or fcultivated grounds. Owing, how- »ever, to the better quality of culâ€" ’tivated oysters, the product of [the private beds represents 70 Sper cent. of the total value of the fyield of market oysters. Wherever the oyster-growing industry is active and the demand for oysters great, it becomes ne- ces ary sooner or later to resort to artificial measures in order to maintain the SUpply. Fortunately, oysters thrive under artificial cul- tivation. But the industry has suf- frâ€"wred. in important regions where the states have failed to adapt themselves to new conditions. No- where. in this country is there any excuse for continuing to rely on public oyster grounds as sources of market supply; to perpetuate them only delays progress and impairs prOSperity. To discourage or prchibit individual control of land for farming purposes would not be less absurd. than to prevent a person from acquiring submerg- ed lands for oyster growing. It is chiefly because most states have accepted more rational standards of oyster culture that our oyster industry is_ so prosperous to-day. When‘ reduced to its simplest terms, oyster culture consists in (1) acquiring suitable submerged bottom, (2) cleaning and preparing that bottom for the growth of oysters, (3) sowing on it shells or other material (“cultch’) ‘to which the young oysters can attach themselves, (4") insuring the pro- duction of larval oysters by the proximity of beds of adult oysters. (5) protecting the oyster beds from enemies, (6) transplanting as occa- sion requires to prevent overâ€" crowding, and (7) culling and sort- ing for market. The great area of her oyster beds gave the United States an .eaer lead in the oyster industry: but to maintain that lead she has h1d to adOpt oyster culture as the oan certain means of insuring 21 cmp that will increase eV'”_eIV year. Â¥ That policy was in. strong conâ€" trast with that of New York and Connecticut. Those states had cut loose from the old fetish of the sanctity of public oyster grounds; they leased or sold those grounds for planting purposes and assumed the front rank in oyster growing, although the natural ad- vantages of Long Island Sound for the industry were much inferior to those of Chesapeake Bay. garded as almost impossible. For at that time Virginia and some other states, believing that the oyster industry should depend on natural beds and restrictive laws. discouraged oyster planting on public grounds. Veais the oyster yield of Chesa- peake Bay and tributaries has been considerablV less than it was formeer; Vet the industry there. is to- day in a healthier condition than in er before. The reason is that VV hereas in earlier vears a Very large portion of the product was obtained from public beds whi~h were becoming rapidly de- pleted, now a steadily irrreasing proportion of the oyster ouput is taken from grounds under private "0 viral. In Virginia about one half the value of the state’s oyser indus- try is contributed by grounds unâ€" der cultivationâ€"a condition that 25 years "ago Would have besn reâ€" The body of water that producâ€" es the greatest number of oyst‘rs in the United States, or. in fact. in the whole World, is Chesapeake Bay. The latest statistics of {the oyster industry show that it has an output of more than eleven million bushels, Valued at abmt four and a quarter million dollars. which is twenty-five per cent. of the value of the entire oyster crop of the United States. In recent vail is becoming l .rger every year. In certain states the limit of pro- duction has perhaps been reached, but in most sta' es the industry is capable of grea .iy expanding. In recent years the oyster crops of the South Atlantic and Gulf States have shown a noteworthy in- crease, chiefly because their oyster resources have come to be more fully appreciated and because oysâ€" Our _ annual oyster output is worth about .seventec million dol- lars to the producers. The yield has increased seveyty per cent. in nuantity since 188{: and under the favorable conditio s that now pre- ed. Virginia lead-s in production, with more than six million bushels a year: Maryland and Connecticut follow. As regards the value of o-‘m‘xtrers taken. Connecticut and New York lead, with crops Worth two and one half million dollars each: Virginia and Maryland come The seven leading oyster states are Rhode Island Connecticut, Ne“ York New Jersey Maryland Vb 0'10! 1, and Louisiana, in each of which moxe than a million bushâ€" els of oysters are annually m. 'lrket- next i lhe pictures Will be reproduced in silver-print style (imitation iphotograph),i m photogravure and in colors. They are to be trade up in packets of eight postcards, for jsale at 6d. a packet. l Picture postcards from official i‘D-hotographs of battle scenes in the great British offensive. will in a few weeks be within reach of all throughout the Empire. The Brit- iish official bureau announces that ;for “the exclusive right of making jand selling, in the United Kingdom |postcards from photographs taken lhv official photographers on the :Western Front and issued by the lPress Bureau. the tender of the !Associated Newspapers, Limited (the London Daily Mail) has been accepted. The terms offered by the succe’ssful tenderer are half gthe net profits of the undertaking l with the minimum payment of five. thousand pounds.” The money :will he devoted to military chari- ‘ties. The Daily Mail and the Over- seas Daily Mail are taking steps ,to place the postcards on sale éthroughout the Whole Empire. The gWar Office has given unlimited fa- .cilities to the photographers in the fighting since the first of July, and their pictures. taken amid the smoke and roar of battle. are a unique record of the Great 3 Advance. There has been a good demand for space, and judging from pres- ent indications every available plaae Will be filled. If any space is required for an exhibit, or con- cession, application should be made to the Secretary at once. If entries are to be made, it should be attended to at once, and not left until the last day. All informaâ€" tion at the General Offices, Do- minion Savings Buildings, London. Announcements may be looked for as to the arrangements for sale in the nginiongs, but inquir- a. ies may be addressed to the War Picture Department. “Daily Mail,” Office, Carmelite House, London, England. THE WESTERN FAIR LONDON. ONT. (Queen’s Park is a very busy place these days Where many men are engaged preparing the build- ing's for the big Exhibition. which takes place September 8th to 16th. The management of the exhibition have been considerably handicap- ped With the work, but it is hoped that after this Week nothing will be allowed to interfere with the preparations _for the exhibition. There Will.be several new fea- tures this year. The Dominion Government is putting on a dem- onstration in the new Process Building of the care of Eggs, w ith a View to increasing interest among the farmers in the care and production of eggs. There will also be an exhibit of W 001 put on by the Government With the same oblect in View. But the big joke of the contest in South-west Toronto is the in :1; that Prohibition is not an issue. and, indeed, it never Was an issue in any political contest in th-s province. It was not an issue two years ago last spring. because “Banish the Btirs" was not Prohi- bition such as this province wall have on and after the 16th of next month. Last spring the question was definitely settled by the Government of Ontario until after the war, when a vote will be taken and a final decision reached. To sunpose that the Gov- ernment would change their atti- tude i.. deference to the views ex- pressed in the South-west Toron- to bye-election. is to give them credit for a species of asinine stupidity th-ev certainly do not nossess. Whatever the result in South-west Toronto, those favor- ing prohiitbion do not need to lose any sleepâ€"Burks Falls Arrow. The United States Government has done much to promote the ovster industry or the country. It has made studies of the oyster’s life histor3, on the same accum e knowledge of which protection and cultivation must depend: it has investigated conditions and methods of oyster growing in other countries, and it has surveyâ€" ed bottoms in the various states on which oyster planting might be conducted, and has thus increaset and improved the output and at the .same time has afforded :1 revenue to the states from th'.‘ sale or lease of the grounds. loss of nutritive properties is the danger from contamination \x hen the. floats are situated near sewers or other sources of pollution. It is well known that oysters can take in disease germs with their food and such germs, when they pass into the human body, may cause disease. Epidemics of tnnhoid fever have been definitelx traced to “iloated’ ovsters that were undoubtedlv innocuous when taken from the salter Water. Espeeially noteworthy has been the out *ome of certain experimen- tal planting operatizms in Louis?- ana. In Barataria Bay, where there had previously been no oyster inâ€" dustry, experimental beds laid on? by experts of the Bureau m: Fisheries yielded marketablé oys- ters at the extraordinary rate of fifteen hundred to two thousand bushels an acre in two years from the time that the “cultch” was de- posited on barren bottom. The. oysters were of high quality and. sold in New Orleans for four times the pri:e of oysters taken from natural beds. The result has been that the state has leased to oyster growers all land available for the purpose. BRITISH BATTLE PICTURES THE TORONTO ELECTION THE DURHAM CHRONICLE. Wages in munitions plants should be such as to attract a large number of Workers. Four to seven, and even ten dollars a day is not uncommon for men employ- ed on the piece-work basis. film Efforts to use women in muni- tion plants are meeting with good success. In a number of places women have registered, and are waiting to be called to work as soon as necessary arrangements can be made. In Welland, for in- stance, 95 women responded last week to the call of a factory there Which needs 150 to 200 woâ€" men. Fifty per cent. of those who answered the call had never been in regular employment before. “If vou can’t be the mm bl. hi :1 the gun, be the man be‘. .ind the man behind the gun’ The officer commanding a ori- gade of Canadian artillery. ".K’ho returned from the. front last week said: “The Germans will never break through now. Before thev had munitions, guns. equipment- everything but the “nerve." All We had was “nerve.” But now we have good guns and plenty 01‘ good ammunition. VVh-ereas for- merly We were limited to 10 to 15 rounds a gun a day, now we use 500 to 1.000 '1 gun, and one Week lately we kept going all Week night and day. It’s all im- portant that the supply of muni- tions be kept up and increased." Patent medicine men haven’t got a monopoly in the “quack” busi- ness. There are quacks right in tne centre of the “holy of holies” of There is no need to emphasize the importance of the highest possible production of munitions. The lives of our boys and the suc- cess of their endeavors depertl upon it. Statements from the hifr7‘â€" est authorities in Great Britain 1m ‘ from the front bear no smlll u - bute to the part that munition Workers are playing in bringing the. war to a successful conclu- .sion. This shortage in production has been largely due to the fact that there has been a very inadequate supply of labor sufficiently skilled to make deliveries effective. This has hampered factories turning: out steel forgings and component parts, which. in turn, have ad- versely affected operations at the machining and assembling plants. But these, also, have been 2. To urge upon all those who are ineligible for overseas service and who are anxious to voluntar- ilv do their best in this great struggle. especially those now an gaged in nonâ€"productive work or in the production of commollties which are luxuries more or less, to consider employment on munitions as their next best service to 9:0- ing overseas. 3. To urge Women’s Emerge :v Corps to register women for mu- nition work or for work which will release men for the munitions in- dustrv. “The deliveries of munitions from Ontario are running far be- hind the quantities promised, and we are seriously apprehensive if the existing conditions cannot be bettered.” Such is the statement of the 1m- perial Munitions Board to the Pro- vincial Organization of Resources Committee, which has been con- ducting a preliminary investiga- tion into labor conditions in nin- nitions plants in Toronto, Hamil- ton and other Ontario cities. unable to make deliveries as scheduled, even when they are fully supplied With forgings and component parts, largely owing to the. shortage of labor. 1. To call the attention of all those engaged in the munitions and allied industries to the im- portance of their service and the great responsibility resting upon them as individuals to co-Opez-ate and do all in their power to se- cure a steady and increased sup- ply of mun1t10ns.for our forces at the front. The Provtincial Committee, there- fore, in bringing these facts to the attention of the public, desirest SPEED UP THE MUN! I IONS THE QUACK BU SINESS 1 __'â€"â€"â€"â€" m; )gxmsmmfim‘ €13 medicine, some of thvm with :1 string of initials after thy-.1- names like the tail of :1 kitt- These chaps stand on their dignity and get mightily lllll'l'vrl if you call them plain “Mr.’ instead of “Dr.” although they are no more entitled to haw: their calming: dinnied into people’s cars (-vcory time some one addresses thvm than have those of other pro- fessions. This in itself is a sort of quackery, although it doesn’t cost as much as the kind that is adt H‘- tised at so much per inch or line in the newspapers. This particular kind of a quack is a parasxtc Who seeks his prey chiefly in the large centres of population. al- though occasionally found in out of the Way places. But wherever found, he is always fishing {or suckers, and, sad to relate. the latter are always plentiful. It is this type of parasite Whom the promoters of race suicide find so accommodating and useful.â€"-P.acc suicide? Does that shock you. Why, my dear sir, if you knew n alf of What any reputable doctor c0le tell you, you would know that race suicide is almost univtr- .salâ€"that there is more or loss oi it in almost every community.â€" Burks Falls Arrow. It won’t be hard ro decide what range you want in you: kitchen after I show you the Pandora’s special featmgg. Clean, smokeless and odorless oven means perfect cooking and baking. This is assured by ventilation and the nickel-coated non-rust steel lining 1n Clyde-built Greyhounds, with their Verandah Cafe, perfect appointments and cuisine, are as good as Atlantic Liners. Express Steamships “Assiniboia” and “Keewatin” leave Port ”5‘ McNicoll every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday ,"n for Port Arthur and Fort William. Round trip . 73W?” 5 days. And you will feel good, because among the islands of Georgian Bay, the green banks of the St. Mary’s River and the expanse of Lake Superior, fresh, cool breezes will blow new life into You. The CANAEMN meme A FIVE DAY HOLiDma YE): 'e 501.: by Lcnahau 6: McKechnie GREAT LAKES Tickets, information and reservations from Local Agent. or W. B. Howard. District Passenger Agent. Toronto. Ont, on the l'nese [WICHS are guaran- teed against rmlnotinn be- foreA Auirustl 1917 butuut as: AiLSB advance. These price are Ford. (mt aria. Ford Car Prices . Smith 6: Sons 30111)le I‘nwn Sedan m 111.5515, Dealers. Burhan WINDS! follow PAGE THREE HT 780 “(J 990.00 H) ii. [Eilich even {ions indiSP' are actually h0W€V€ra W the enern.v 1 his dreams < ation are [a Government port of the Left. We k cans W811 a] temper of 1 perfluous cla of warfare a tieS. seating \‘nice stored, With< tions of any status, and 1 indemnity u make. good 11 compensate . France 'nust her occuyi (with some We are so these Clair.“ We hardly l nificance. of the aggr enemy. Pru' sued three nexation of fields of B ern France; base on the a view to 0‘ cutting of -Serbia to '. ‘ Germany c: pressure a: ,eendency it feat these ‘ Prussian M dreams of 1 agreemer one and school W crippling Is at one hOpefuL cause it temper is restraint this War. amputali straightâ€" boycott ' makes outb 1..- that no tempted securit 5‘ German con-dim sen:e 0 The soc further the 021* no; ~ula tion of 5-3 roco nsl rue menflwrs 20 years 0 the name armed us: the armed a balance. arily to H European J 831‘}? chum,1 conferonm' was \‘Csto everv pro is to-dav fore two 0 dent of th central id Peace. whl ill civilize to submit propriate View. whe1 ciliation. . themselvea aressor th War witha ente No will ques W1