The Young Wireless Operator—With the Oyster Fleet / How Alec Cunningham Won His Way to the Top in the Oyster Business

by Lewis E. Theiss

"We forgot to make a note about the weather," said Alec. "Please add that, also."

"It's going to take a long, long time to make a complete job," sighed Alec, as Elsa noted down the weather. "I suppose I'll have to work at it for several summers."

"I suppose you'll have to work at it every summer," said Elsa, "if you intend to become a scientific oysterman. Don't you suppose conditions change from year to year in the oyster-beds? They must, for lots of times I've heard my father say he can't understand why the oysters in some given bed don't fatten some years. There must be changes from year to year. Whatever the reason was, I know his oysters have been poor enough this year. I heard him telling mother the other night that it had cost him hundreds of dollars because the oysters in some of his beds hadn't fattened as they usually do."

From time to time Alec carefully lifted the settling bottle and examined it. By the time a quarter of an hour had elapsed he said, "That looks clear enough now to begin our count."

A distinct layer of sediment had fallen to the bottom of the bottle, while the water near the surface was quite clear. This upper layer of water Alec now carefully drew out with a pipette. The sediment became more and more concentrated. When Alec had removed all the water he dared, he washed the sediment into his graduated cylinder. Then, with a medicine dropper, he transferred a very small portion of the sediment to a watch crystal. Very gently, at the same time, he rotated the crystal in his hand, slightly agitating it. Gradually the sediment seemed to divide into two parts. About the edge of the liquid the lighter particles of mud and other impurities seemed to collect, while the heavier particles were concentrated in the centre of the glass. It was in this central deposit of sediment that Alec expected to find the oyster larvæ.

No wonder he was glad there was no glare of white paint to hurt his eyes, for the work before him was enough to try even the best of vision. The total amount of sediment in his watch crystal was so small that its entire surface could be seen at one glance through the microscope. And the oyster fry were presumably gathered in the tiniest of spaces in the very centre of this tiny bit of sediment.

The actual counting of the larvæ might have troubled one unaccustomed to the use of the microscope; but Alec was at home with the instrument. He placed his watch crystal under the lens, adjusted the instrument to his own vision, and with one of his wooden-handled needles began to pick over the central windrow of debris. One by one he found and counted the oyster larvæ, or what he thought were larvæ. There was no question whatever about the largest larvæ. They possessed a reddish-purple hue that is found in the larvæ of no other bivalve. Also there was a distinct beak or bulge in the shell next to the hinge that he had read about in his bulletin. So he was sure of the identity of the larger oyster fry. But when it came to those more recently spawned, Alec could not be so sure. He knew that there was no certain way to distinguish between very young oyster and clam larvæ except by measuring them. This he was not equipped to do. Nor did it make any material difference whether Alec ascertained the exact number of larvæ in the water or not. What he was after was to find the relative quantities of larvæ in different places and at different times.

Under the microscope Alec found the oyster larvæ were a very beautiful sight indeed. The reddish-purple color was very similar in hue to the color of the muscle scar on the shell of an adult oyster. After the death of the oyster, Alec knew, this vivid color rapidly disappeared. Elsa was as much pleased as Alec had been, when she looked through the microscope and saw the brilliant-hued oyster fry.

Little by little, Alec transferred the contents of the bottle to his watch crystal and counted the larvæ. He found only a few dozen in all. That did not surprise him for he had not expected to find many. The fact in itself meant very little until he learned whether other portions of the oyster grounds contained relatively more or fewer larvæ under similar conditions. That was what he most wanted to know—where the oyster fry collected, so he could do as the book suggested, and get his shells under them.

Now that he had started the work, Alec meant to keep at it until he found where the very greatest number of larvæ were concentrated, and then try to secure the ground beneath. If he found good beds unstaked, he could get them direct from the state. If some one else already had claim to them, he could work with a view to acquiring them at some future time. For the friendly scolding Elsa had given him had settled the matter in his own mind instantly. He wasn't going to do any half-way job.