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Show I Oyster Is Edible i All Year Around' 'it . g i , 0!ae Truth About the Bivalve Southern Ones II; Are Not so Palatable as Those t r ' From the North : w -I t Q far as tho question of health Is la h 13 concerned, thcro Is absolutely no . reason why the oyster should bo fi .' banished from tho menu at tho Fourth & i of July dinner. In the matter of flavor, m ' perhaps, It might be disappointing, for the oyster becomes a thin, flabby, 3 ' tasteless sort of a creature Boon after ' the spawning season opens, and as p! , thchc bivalves commence to spawn 'A n Northern water: at tho very begln-j( begln-j( nlng of the settled warm weather. It ls M to this fact, In all probability, that wo w owe the prevailing superstition. B. While It ls true that there was some Wh excuse for tho proscription of thts oys-t? oys-t? 1 ter a few years ago, the reason for our 'P't abstinence from such sea-food during H : the summer months no longer exist. & for like tho so-called spring lamb and i'1 the strawberry, which may now be V"- found In the city markets at all times, V' oysters are Hold and eaten without fj; recard to tho restrictions of either tho yl climate or tho calendar. , , , . '? 1 Moreover, the process by which these bt results havo been attained is an o"- A trcmely simple one. for it ls merely I "f a question of transplanting oysters I 'J that are spawning, or have already 3 I apawned, from Virginia, or some other f point in tho South, to more northern $ and colder waters, where thoy may be ffk Preserved until they are needed to tal to f the place of those that have become j unsilablc. ThiiH. from 'May un itll the gf rat Of September, iho.Noithcm mar- kct Is supplied with oysters that have been brought from the South expressly express-ly for this purpose, and, while It ls true that these Imported bivalves arc never as tasty as the natives In their own season for the oyster resembles the pumpkin In. the fact that It requires a touch of real cold weather to bring out Its most appetUlng qualities they are sufllclcntly Arm and plump to meet nearly nil the demands of those who feel that they must have thin food, regardless re-gardless of the position of the thermometer. ther-mometer. Although It may not be generally known, oysters arc plan ted,' transplanted transplant-ed and cultivated very much as though they were a species ofvegetable. The grower tends them Svlth as much caro as any farmer would devote, to a llcld of corn, for It Is "not only necessary that they should derive the right kind of nourishment from tho waters In which they ll but they must be protected pro-tected as far as possible from tho many enemies that constantly threaten them. There seems to be a Widespread impression im-pression thn,t tho size and, general ap-l pearanco of an oyster ls denoted by lls name. ,ih though the term "Blue, Point." for example, could only be ap-' plied to bivalves of dainty proportions, while tho names "Mill Pond" and "Lynn Haven" were practically a guarantee of both slzo and substance. Like many other popular Ideas conT corning the oyster, this Is without foundation, for It Is lmposslblo to mako any such classification The name of an oyster meroly Indicates the location loca-tion from which It was taken, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Its slzo or other peculiarities. In all cases, however, oysters aro assorted; the smajler varieties are set asldo to be eaten raw, or on tho half-shell; the "culls," or medium-sized oysters, aro Intended for ordinary culinary pur-pofacs, pur-pofacs, while the largo or "box" oysters, oys-ters, which aro sold by "count" exclusively, ex-clusively, are generally utilized for frying. The "Cherrystone" and "Lynn Haven Bay," both popular Southern oysters, como from little arms of the Chesapeake, and they owe their peculiar pecu-liar flavor to tho composition of the fresh water that flows down to them fiom the pine woods. In fact, these are almost tho only oysters from the South that can oven remotely compare In flavor with those that are ralbcd further north the "Capo Cods," the "Buzzard Bays" and the "Cotults," all from Massachusetts, or the "North-ports," "North-ports," the "Cold Spring Harbors." tho "Greenports." tho "Olonwoods," or any of the many other line varieties that are natives of Long Island. The so-called "Mill Ponds" may come from any section of the oyster-raising country, coun-try, for. In this Instance, tho name does not Indicate the particular, locality In which the bivalves wore bred, except that It Is suppoHod to Imply that they have been cultivated In Bomo mill pond, or salt-water pond, In which the tides ebb and flow. "While It may be true, as the oyster growers contend, that tho danger of Infection In-fection by discuses from eating oysters has been grossly exaggerated, there can bo no shadow of doubt but that the deadly typhoid bacilli may bo Introduced Intro-duced Into tho human system In this I manner. On Heveral occasions cases of both typhoid fever and ptomaine l poisoning havo been traced dltectly to ' tho oyster, and, if any question remained re-mained as to tho possibility of such Infection, the experiments of the New York city department of"h"eallh would Anally settle the matter. According to the report made by Dr. Cyrus "W Field, It has been proved, by actual tests made at tho department's biological bio-logical laboratory, that oyBters may easily bo polluted by being brought Into contact with Infective material, and that, if any attompt ls made to preserve the shellfish, either by placing plac-ing them directly on the Ico or In a compartment of. the Ice box, the power to act as a disseminator of dlseaso ls retained, If not actually Increased. As the experiments of Dr. Field have also shown that, by the use of plenty of fresh sea water the typhoid germs may be absolutely destroyed In from six to eight days, he believes that It Is safe to conclude that tho growers aro right when thoy afllrm that the oyster. In Its natural state. Is one of tho purest fooxl substances that may bo taken from the sea. In other words, If It was true that the oysters that come to market were brought directly from their own clean, deep-water beds. It ls extremely doubtful if there would over bo the slightest danger of Infection. The conditions that have caused so much trouble In the past, however, have been entirely due to the fact that, after having been brought from deep water, they have usually been subjected sub-jected to a process of "plumping," or "fattening." "When oysters are to undergo this treatment in preparation for their appearance ap-pearance In market, they are taken to tho mouth of some stream, or cieek, whero the water Is brackish, and there they aro deposited In small houses that aro so constructed that the bivalves will be covered with water when the tide rises, but will become nearly dry again when the lido Is low As the specific gravity of this water Is 'much lcs than that which coveiod tho oysters oys-ters In their original beds, the effect Is to "fatten," or "plump" them Tho dealers claim that this Increase In weight and bulk also Improves the flavor of tho oyster. In spite of tho fact that there Is a considerable loss of nutrltlvo matter, but none of theso questions would bo worthy of grfat concern on tlio part of the consumer If those who directed thn work of "fattening" were nlwayti careful to place the oysters near streams that ,'lre beyond suspicion, it is just Oils, however, that has been the great dlf- flculty, for so many of theso small creeks aro used for sewago purposes, or are contaminated by other sources of infection, that nothing but the closest Inspection by tho authorities will ever satlBiy tho public mind as to tho safoty In eating artificially "plumped" "plump-ed" oysters. So far as New York city ls concerned, pjactlcally all the danger of Infection from this source will be removed by tho propor enforcement of a resolution that has recently been added to the Sanitary Code, for tliLs new order specl-llcs specl-llcs that, in tho future, the sale of oysters mav bo conducted only under the direction of the Board of Health. Now Yorkers now may cat oysters as fearlessly as though typhoid fever bacilli had no exlstoncc In fact, while the othor towns and cities that now sccuro their supply of shellfish through the metropolitan markets, will profit by tho adoption of this new health restriction. re-striction. In preparing for tho active campaign against tho sale of polluted oysters, a series of maps have been prepared for the department showing all tho oyster beds In Now York, as well as tho location lo-cation of every fresh-water stream near which these bivalves are customarily cus-tomarily "fattened." A thorough inspection in-spection has also been made of tho country through which theso streams flow, and any suspicious circumstances regarding possible Infection will be sufficient suf-ficient to stamp such waters as forbidden for-bidden territory. Moreover. In. tho future, fu-ture, whon It becomes known that typhoid ty-phoid fever has made Its appeurunco In anv particular section, all adjacent beds, 'or "fattening" stations, will bo quarantined, nnd oysters coming from such places will not bo permitted to enter New York. Tho possibility of ptomaine poisoning Is not so easily dotoctcd nnd cannot bo regulated so readily, nnd yet. In this regard, oysters aro not dlffeicnt from other food substances. In fact, there ls probably less actual danger from ptomaines In qyHlors than in mnny other fish, and, If ordinary piecautlons are exercised,, tho risk may be overcome over-come altogether, Tho only point necessary nec-essary Is to refrain from the purchaso of oysters In bulJi |