OYSTER FARMING Traveller's Rest can boast of many able men who relied on oyster fishing for their livelihood. Most of them owned their own boats and har¬ vested the bi-valves from beds in during the scheduled fish¬ ing season. At one time there was a road leading to Rayner's shore. The land for this road was donated by James Rayner . Farther over in Waite's Creek, Robert Milligan built two sailing vessels, the plank for these being sawed by hand. At one time as many as forty boats could come into these creeks which today are filled in and cannot accommodate ships. A local resident, James England was a buyer. He shipped the oysters in barrels from Traveller's Rest to York City . George Waite , one of the men who worked for Mr. England remembers hauling loads of frozen fish including oysters from the storehouse on the England farm to the station about a half-mile away. He used a sled and his dog Teddy to pull the loads over icy fields. This was much faster than hitching a horse. James Pillman was also a buyer of oysters. He would meet the fishermen down at the wharf at Rayner's creek with a team of horses and truck wagon when they brought their fish ashore. After grading the oysters, he hauled them to Summerside and sold them to a buyer, James Sharp . Around 1880 oysters were plentiful in the and there was no need for concern about the supply. Unfortunately disease attacked the oysters in the 1920's and as a consequence stocks became depleted. In recent years a Biological station was built at Bideford by the Do¬ minion Government and officials began a study of local waters. In the late fifties the industry improved somewhat, largely due to the assistance pro¬ gram whereby bedding oysters are deposited on the bottom of the bay. Prince Edward Island waters are regarded as ideally suited to the culture of oysters because of water temperature and good sandy bottom. 24