VIII. _Marketing._--The "catch" as soon as it is dredged or tonged is brought in boats to the oyster houses, where men with hatchets or similar implements break apart the clustered oysters and cast aside the empty shells, bits of rock, etc. Three different varieties of marketable oysters are usually sorted out, according to size: (1) large, (2) medium and (3) small. The respective sizes vary somewhat with the locality, demands of the market and the season; but the large oysters commonly count about 900 to the barrel, the medium 1,000 or more, while the small run 1,200 or over. The different sizes as they are sorted out are packed in barrels and are then ready for shipment. The principal markets are of course New York and Boston, though the demand farther inland is increasing, and shipments to Chicago or places even farther west are frequently made. _General Statistics._ The following facts concerning the oyster industry have been compiled from the written statements of the different oystermen. Complete returns have not been received from Wareham, Barnstable, and Falmouth, while possibly a few oystermen in the other towns have been overlooked. Falmouth raises but few oysters for the market and these returns have been recorded, the remaining oystermen merely planting for their own use. In the towns of Barnstable and Wareham about four-fifths of the oystermen have made returns. The facts given in the following tables are based only on the returns at hand, and therefore do not give a complete report for these two towns. STATISTICAL SUMMARY. ====================+==============+============================+======= | NUMBER OF | AREA OF WORKED GRANTS | TOWN. | GRANTS. | (ACRES). |Number --------------------+------+-------+------+---------+-----------+of Men. |Total.|Worked.|Total.|Suitable.|Unsuitable.| --------------------+------+-------+------+---------+-----------+------- Wellfleet, | 35| 23| 967| 810| 157| 14 Chatham, | 21| 21| 65| 55| 10| 20 Dennis-Yarmouth, | 4| 2| 10| 10| -| 3 Barnstable, | 29| 29| 188| 121| 67| 33 Falmouth, | 22| 6| 44| 23| 21| 5 Bourne, | 135| 42| 100| 83| 17| 21 Wareham, | 125| 70| 196| 159| 37| 26 Fall River district,| 14| 14| 810| 510| 300| 36 Nantucket, | 2| 1| 20| 3| 17| 1 +------+-------+------+---------+-----------+------- Total, | 387| 208| 2,400| 1,774| 626| 159 ====================+======+=======+======+=========+===========+======= CAPITAL INVESTED.