Part 26
Baltimore is another great seat of the American oyster trade. A single firm there has amassed, during the last ten years, a fortune of £500,000, by simply transporting oysters to the Western States, all of which were obtained at the oyster banks of the eastern shore of Virginia, and sent over the Baltimore and Ohio railroad to Cumberland, and thence to the Ohio river in stages. The firm paid to this railway company, in one year, for transporting oysters alone, above £7,000.
Another large and enterprising firm in Baltimore, forwards daily to the West, by way of the Susquehanna railroad, and the Pennsylvania improvements, _eight tons_ of oysters, in cans. The operations of this one concern comprise the opening of _2,500 bushels of oysters per day_, giving constant employment to 150 men and boys! The shells are carried for manure to all parts of Virginia and North Carolina. In the ‘shocking’ of oysters, the shells will increase about one fourth in measurement bulk; this would give a total of about 6,000,000 bushels of shells, which sell for one penny per bushel, making a return of £25,000 for the shells alone.
The whole shores of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries are adapted to the fattening of the oyster, and as but one year is required for a full growth in the beds, an immense profit accrues to those engaged in the business--a profit which is estimated at some 300 to 600 per cent. There were, a few years ago, 250 vessels engaged in the business, which averages about 900 bushels to the cargo, and requires nine to ten days for the trip. These vessels making, in the aggregate, 6,000 trips during the eight months in the year in which they are engaged, gives a total of 4,800,000 bushels per year sold in the Baltimore market. The oysters used to bring an average price of 1_s._ 8_d._ per bushel, which makes a grand total of £160,000 per year paid wholesale for oysters by the dealers in Baltimore.
With the spread of population, and the progress of settlement in the interior States, the price of this shell fish is advancing, for a late number of the _Baltimore Patriot_ states:--
‘For some time past these delicious bivalves have been very scarce and in great demand, advancing materially in price. There are several causes for their upward tendency in value. First, in consequence of their scarceness, and the difficulty of procuring them, owing to cold, unfavourable weather. Secondly, an increased demand has sprung up from the west. Large numbers are being shipped in barrels, in the shell and otherwise, to Chicago, Pittsburg, Cincinnati, Wheeling, Louisville, and, in fact, to almost every town and city beyond the Alleghenies. A sojourner in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, or even Iowa and Kansas, may, at this season of the year, sit down to a dish of fresh oysters, live and kicking, enjoying luxurious refreshment in comparatively small towns nearly 2,000 miles from Chesapeake. Large shipments of oysters are also making to New York, Boston, and various parts of the north, whilst millions are being put up in cans, hermetically sealed, and sent to all parts of the world. Not long ago, we saw a friendly letter from the mountains of Switzerland, boasting that the writer had just partaken of a dish of delicious Baltimore oysters. It would not surprise us to see the demand far out-reaching the supply, and a gradual augmentation of price. They are now bringing 1 dollar 25 cents to 1 dollar 62¾ cents per bushel at our wharves, and command 9 dollars to 10 dollars per barrel in the shell at Chicago. Equally high prices are given in all the western cities.’
In one of his recent messages to the Virginia legislature, Governor Wise states, that Virginia possesses an area of 1,680,000 acres of oyster beds, containing about 784,000,000 bushels of oysters. It is estimated that the mother oyster spawns annually at least 8,000,000; yet, notwithstanding this enormous productive power, and the vast extent of oyster beds, there is danger of the oyster being exterminated, unless measures are adopted to prevent fishermen from taking them at improper seasons of the year.
A bill was lately introduced in the Virginia legislature, the main features of which are to the following effect:--
1st. Prohibits the taking of oysters by non-residents. 2nd. Provides for the protection of oyster beds during the spawning season. 3rd. Taxes on licenses for taking and transporting oysters, calculated to yield an average of three and a half cents of revenue per bushel. 4th. The appointment of inspectors, &c., to superintend the renting of planting grounds. 5th. The purchase and equipment of four steamers for the enforcement of the law--said steamers to cost a total of 30,000 dollars, and to be employed at a yearly expense of about 7,000 dollars.
The oyster trade is extensively carried on at Boston. Messrs. Atwood have nine vessels exclusively employed in the business, five of which are clipper-built schooners, freighting oysters from the south. They have 75 acres of flats, near what is called White Island, on the Mystic river, where the fresh oysters of the south are transplanted, to grow and fatten in water much softer than their native element, and where they keep a supply in the summer months, and for the winter stock.
It is estimated that the quantity of oysters now planted in the waters of Newhaven harbour, United States, is 500,000 bushels. Estimating 200 oysters to the bushel, this would give one hundred millions of oysters. These oysters are for the early fall trade, and are apart from the enormous quantities imported and opened there during the winter months.
In the Plaquemines region of Louisiana, upwards of 500 men are engaged in the oyster trade, 150 of which number dredge the oysters from the bays, the rest are employed in conveying them to New Orleans. For this purpose, 170 small luggers, sloops, and schooners, of from five to fifteen tons burthen, are in use for five months in the year. During the summer months, they find employment in carrying shells from the islands to the forts and to the city. These made into concrete by a mortar of lime, sand, and hydraulic cement, form the most substantial and imperishable wall known. For public works in process of erection, the city streets, and ornamental walks at private residences, the collection of oyster shells affords good summer employment to this class of persons. From the best information to be had on the subject, the parish of Plaquemines sends a weekly supply to the city of New Orleans of at least 4,000 barrels of oysters, amounting in value during the season to about £25,000.
A South African paper, of a late date, observes:--
‘The natives of this vicinity have recently begun to offer for sale bottles filled with oysters--not ‘natives’--separated from the shell, and floating in their own liquor. The unlimited supply of this delicious food, obtainable on the coast, now that the natives have acquired a notion of the trade, will enable many, to whom oysters had become things of memory, to renew again ‘the days of auld lang syne.’ The shells are so firmly attached to the rocks, that we do not think it would pay white men to follow this pursuit; at all events, they could not afford to sell the oysters cheap enough for extensive use. But the somewhat rough process adopted by ‘our coloured brethren’ (or rather ‘sisters,’ we believe), though it destroys the beauty of the fish, does not injure its flavour, which we can pronounce to be equal to that of the ‘real native’ of the British seas.’
Mussels are chiefly eaten by the lower classes, but they are also largely employed for bait, which all marine animals will take; some millions of them are used for this purpose at the fishing stations. In one district alone, their value for this object is £13,000.
A choice kind of large mussel, known under the name of Hambleton hookers, is taken out of the sea, and fattened in the Wyre, Lancashire, within reach of the tide.
Some of the mussels found along parts of the South American coasts, especially the Magellanic, and the Falkland Islands, are very large, about six inches long, by three broad. Dr. Pernety, in his _Journal of the Voyage to the Malouine islands_, says,
‘We more than once attempted to eat some of these, but found them so full of pearls that it was impossible to chew them; the pearls being very hard, endangered the breaking of our teeth, and when they were broken in pieces, they left a kind of sand in the mouth, which was very disagreeable.’
Several species of gapers are used as food, both in Britain and on the Continent, as the _Mya arenaria_, known to the fishermen about Southampton by the whimsical name of _old maids_--in some parts of England and Ireland they are much used; and the _Mya truncata_, which is very plentiful in the northern islands, where it is called _Smurslin_, when boiled forms a supper dish. Though not so delicate as some of the other shell fish eaten, it is by no means unpalatable.
The scallop was held in high estimation by the ancients, and is still sought for in Catholic countries. The _Pecten maximus_ is frequently used in England. When pickled and barrelled for sale, it is esteemed a great delicacy. Another species, the _Pecten opercularis_, is employed for culinary purposes in Cornwall, where it is known by the name of frills, or queens. To our list of bivalves may be added the _Mactra solida_, which is used as food by the common people about Dartmouth, and the _Venus pullastra_, called by the inhabitants of Devonshire, pullet, and eaten by them.
Large clams and mussels are eaten in the United States, but in the Lower British American Provinces they are principally used as bait for fish. The scallops are also of very large size, and are more commonly eaten than they are with us.
Scalloped oysters, although very dainty eating, are most indigestible.
The business of digging clams is engaged in by a large number of persons on the North American coasts. There are two varieties, distinguished as the hard shell and the soft shell. They are eaten largely in spring, when they are in the best condition. Clams are much prized by persons residing at a distance from the sea coast, and they are frequently sent into the interior, where they meet a ready sale, as they can be sold at a very low price. They are salted and preserved in barrels, and used by fishermen as bait for cod-fish. For many years past the digging and salting of clams for the Boston market has been an important business. These shell-fish abound in the extensive flats at the mouths of some of the rivers. The flats are daily covered by the tide, and afford the feeding ground which the clams require. Clams multiply with astonishing rapidity: they are dug in the winter and spring. The business furnishes employment for men and boys, that in former years were occupied in winter fishing. The work is done, of course, at low water. When the tide is out, on pleasant winter days, one will often see gangs of 10, 20, or 50 men and boys busily employed in turning up the mud on the flats, picking up the clams, and putting them into buckets. The implement which they use is a stout fork with three flat prongs, each about an inch wide, and 10 or 12 inches long. The men go out on the flats in wherries, when the tide is retiring, and push an oar into the mud, and make fast the boat to it, and as soon as the water has left the boat, commence operations. When a bucket is filled, it is emptied into the boat. They continue their work until the tide comes in again sufficiently to float the boat, when they pull to the wharf. On many places on the shores of these flats there are groups of small huts, 10 or 12 feet square, with stone chimnies running up on the outside, furnished within with a small stove and two or three stools for seats. The clams are deposited in these huts, and in those parts of the day when the tide is in, so that the men cannot work out on the flats, and in stormy weather, they are employed in ‘shocking’ them, as it is called, that is, in opening the shell and taking out the clam, which is done with a small stout knife. As the clams are taken from the shell, they are dropped into a bucket; when the bucket is filled, they are emptied into a barrel. Around these huts, it is not uncommon to see heaps of clam shells larger than the huts themselves, the accumulation of the winter’s labour. The clam diggers sell the produce of their labour to traders, who send their teams round to the huts weekly or daily, according to the weather, carry them to their store-houses, and repack and salt them, and head them up in barrels, when they are ready for the market.
A species of _Murex_ (_M. loco_) is highly esteemed in Chile. It is very white and of a delicious taste, but rather tough; and in order to render it tender, it is generally beaten with a small stick before it is cooked.
The periwinkle (_Turbo littoreus_) is more extensively used as food than any of the other testaceous univalves. It would hardly be supposed that so trifling an article of consumption as periwinkles could form a matter of extensive traffic; but the quantity consumed annually in London has been estimated at 76,000 baskets, weighing 1,900 tons, and valued at £15,000. This well-known mollusc is found on all the rocks and shores of our own islands which are left uncovered by the tide, and also in America and other countries.
The cockneys and their visitors are deeply indebted to the industrious inhabitants of Kerara, near Oban, for a plenteous treat of this rather vulgar luxury; and the Kerarans are no less obliged to the Londoners for a never-failing market, for what now appears to be their general staple article. They are gathered by the poor people, who get 6_d._ a bushel for collecting them. From Oban they are forwarded to Glasgow, and thence to Liverpool, _en route_ to London. Very few are retained in transit, better profits being obtained in London, even after paying so much sea and land carriage.
Every week there are probably 30 tons or more of this insignificant edible sent up to London, from Glasgow, all of which are collected near Oban, and must be a means of affording considerable employment, and diffusing a considerable amount weekly in wages, amongst the numerous persons employed. The periwinkles are packed in bags, containing from two to three cwt. each, and keep quite fresh until they arrive at their ultimate destination. In London they sell at 3_d._ a pint.
Whelks (the _Buccinum undatum_) are another shell-fish which, though despised on the sea coasts, are a favourite dish, boiled or pickled, among the poorer classes in the metropolis, as the gusto manifested at the street-stalls in London evidences. Boys and children of a larger growth frequently indulge in a ‘hapenny’ or penny saucer of these dainties. Large quantities of whelks are transmitted from Mull to London; some steamers from the north bring six or seven tons at a time.
Several species of snails (_Helix_) are employed for culinary purposes. The largest of these, the _Helix pomatia_, was a favourite dish among the Romans, who fattened them with bran sodden with wine. They are still used largely in many parts of Europe, during Lent, after having been fed with different kinds of herbs. The Africans and Brazilians eat snails.
The _Helix hortensis_ has also been employed as food, and they are prescribed medicinally, being administered like slugs in consumptive cases.
Many are familiar with the passage in Pliny (_Hist._ lib. ix., c. 56), who, on the authority of Varro, relates the incredible size to which the art of fattening had brought the snails. Even assuming the snails were African _Achatina_ or _Bulimi_, there must, one should think, be some mistake in the text, which says, ‘Cujus artis gloria in eam magnitudinem perducta sit, ut octoginta quadrantes caperent singularum calices.’ Pennant, referring to this and to Varro (_De Re Rustica_) says, ‘If we should credit Varro, they grew so large that the shells of some would hold ten quarts!’
People need not admire the temperance of the supper of the younger Pliny (_Epist._ lib. i.; _Epist._ xv.), which consisted of only a lettuce a-piece, three snails, two eggs, a barley cake, sweet wine and snow, in case his snails bore any proportion to those of Hirpinus.
Among the pictures in the dressing-rooms at Chiswick House, the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, there is one, by Murillo, of a beggar boy eating a snail pie.
The snail is now a very fashionable article of diet in Paris; and has also spread to America. Snails are eaten in Tuscany and Austria. They were highly esteemed by the Romans, our masters in gastronomy. In the provinces of France, where the vine is cultivated, snails of large size abound. They are gathered by the peasants, put in small pans for a few days, salt water thrown on them, to cause them to discharge whatever their stomachs may contain; then boiled, taken out of the shell, and eaten with a sauce, and considered a luxury by the vine dressers.
There are now 50 restaurants, and more than 1,200 private tables in Paris, where snails are accepted as a delicacy by from 8,000 to 10,000 consumers. The monthly consumption of this mollusc is estimated at half a million. The market price of the great vineyard snail is from 2_s._ to 3_s._ per 100; while those of the hedges, woods, and forests, bring only 1_s._ 6_d._ to 2_s._ The proprietor of one snailery, in the vicinity of Dijon, is said to clear nearly £300 a year by his snails.
In Switzerland, where there are gardens in which they are fed in many thousands together, a considerable trade is carried on in them about the season of Lent; and at Vienna, a few years ago, seven of them were charged at an inn the same as a plate of veal or beef. The usual modes of preparing them for the table are either boiling, frying them in butter, or sometimes stuffing them with force-meat; but in whatever manner soever they are dressed, it is said their sliminess always in a great measure remains.
An anecdote is told of Drs. Black and Hutton, which shows how difficult it is for philosophy to wage a war with prejudice. It chanced that the two doctors had held some discourse together upon the folly of abstaining from feeding on the testaceous creatures of the land, while those of the sea were considered as delicacies. Wherefore not eat snails?--they are well known to be nutritious and wholesome--even sanative in some cases. The epicures of olden times enumerated among the richest and raciest delicacies the snails which were fed in the marble quarries of Lucca. The Italians still hold them in esteem. In short, it was determined that a gastronomic experiment should be made at the expense of the snails. The snails were procured, dieted for a time, then stewed for the benefit of the two philosophers: who had either invited no guest to their banquet, or found none who relished in prospect the _pièce de resistance_. A huge dish of snails was placed before them; but philosophers are but men after all; and the stomachs of both doctors began to revolt against the proposed experiment. Nevertheless, if they looked with disgust on the snails, they retained their awe for each other; and each conceiving the symptoms of internal revolt peculiar to himself, began with infinity of exertion to swallow, in very small quantities, the mess which he internally loathed. Dr. Black, at length, ‘showed the white feather,’ but in a very delicate manner, as if to sound the opinion of his messmate:--‘Doctor,’ he said, in his precise and quiet manner, ‘Doctor--do you not think that they taste a little--a very little, green?’ ‘Green! green, indeed--take them awa’, take them awa’,’ vociferated Dr. Hutton, starting up from table, and giving full vent to his feelings of abhorrence. And so ended all hopes of introducing snails into their _cuisine_.
At the town of Ulm, in Wurtemburg, on the left bank of the Danube, snails are fed in great quantities for various markets in Germany and Austria, but especially for that of Vienna, where they are esteemed a great delicacy, after having been fed upon strawberries. About 20,000 okes (each nearly 3 lbs.) of snails are annually exported from Crete, valued at 15,000 Turkish piastres.
The breed of large white snails in England is to be found all along the escarpment of the chalk range, and is not confined to Surrey. It is said to have been introduced into England by Sir Kenelm Digby, and was considered very nutritious and wholesome for consumptive patients. Indeed, to this day, considerable quantities are sold in Covent Garden market for this purpose. They are sometimes made into a mucilaginous broth, and at others swallowed in a raw state.
In the Island of Bourbon, the French use them to make a soup for the sick.
At Cape Coast Castle the luxuries of the natives are fish soup, made of dried unsalted fish, and snail soup with land crabs in it; and beyond Ashantee the food consists of plantains and large snails, 300 or 400 of which dried on a string sell for a dollar. These snails are the great African _Achatina_, which are the largest of all land-snails, attaining a length of eight inches.
A species of barnacle, called the parrot bill (_Balanus psittacus_), is much esteemed by the inhabitants of Chile. From 10 to 20 of these animals inhabit as many small separate cells, formed in a pyramid of a cretaceous substance. These pyramids are usually attached to the steepest parts of rocks at the water’s edge, and the animal derives its subsistence from the sea, by means of a little hole at the top of each cell. The shell consists of six valves, two large and four small; the large ones project externally in the form of a parrot’s bill, whence the animal has received its specific name. When detached from the rocks, they are kept alive in their cells for four or five days, during which time they occasionally protrude their bills as if to breathe. They are of different sizes, though the largest do not exceed an inch in length, and are very white, tender, and excellent eating.[36] Capt. P. P. King, R.N., confirms this, and says they form a common and highly esteemed food of the natives, the flesh equalling in richness and delicacy that of the crab.
ANNELIDA.