@rirzce fidward 86 
     
    
   
   
    
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     On beds from a quarter of an acre to forty acres in size the 
     
     oysters have grown naturally, owing their extension to the 
     
     drift of the spat with the tides, and to the suitability of the soil 
     
     upon which it falls, although no ground in the world is better 
     
     adapted for the scientific propagation of this fish. Oyster 
     
     fishing began in this bay about 1859, and since then from 
     
     three hundred to four hundred boats have been engaged 
     
     annually in the industry. Although prices have fluctuated— 
     
     depending on the weather during the fishing season—the 
     
     tendency has always been upwards. In the forties of the 
     
     last century, Bedeque Bay, on the shore of which now stands 
     
     Summerside, furnished oysters which have never been sur- 
     
     passed; but over-fishing has almost depleted these beds, and 
     
     to-day the “Malpeque” is Canada’s favourite and most 
     
     abundant oyster. These oysters took first prize at the Paris 
     
     Exposition; and in Montreal, the chief market for the Island’s 
     
     product. the “Malpeque” oyster is synonymous for every- 
     
     thing that is succulent. being very meaty, and when in the 
     
     best condition sometimes eight or nine inches long. They 
     
     are found in the deep water ofi" Curtain Island, and are of 
     
     excellent flavour, bringing the highest price in the market; 
     
     while those growing in the shallow water around the islands 
     
     of the bay are cup-shaped, round and plump, more delicious 
     
     in flavour. keeping much longer than other varieties, and 
     
     commanding the highest prices. The Narrows and Bideford 
     
     River oysters compare very favourably with the latter. Next 
     
     in value are the “Cove” oysters, found in the coves of 
     
     Richmond Bay. Some years ago, before the era of scientific 
     
     supervision, oyster fishing was prosecuted in a primitive 
     
     fashion with rakes, and little or no attention was paid to 
     
     that culture so necessary for the preservation of the species. 
     
     It was indeed the custom in the time of William IV. to dig 
     
     and burn the oyster for the lime contained, but this practice 
     
     was stopped by law. And more recently the industry has 
     
     suffered from over-fishing, from the digging of mussel mud 
     
     by farmers, by winter fishing through the ice, and by the