528 UJLSTOllY AND METHODS OF THE FiSHEIUES. 



This concludes the account of oyster-culture iu the Chesapeake so far as at present developed. 

 It will be seen that its processes are crude, its growth hindered by many adverse circumstances, 

 and its extent limited. No doubt it will grow amazingly in all respects during the next .decade; 

 but before it does many laws must be modified, and much opposition arising from ignorant preju- 

 dice must be swept away. 



PLANTING ON WESTERN SHORE OF DELAWARE BAY. Crossing from Chesapeake to Delaware 

 Bay, we meet with a more systematic oyster-culture, and find that the product sells for more than 

 twice as much money, bushel for bushel, although it still must come into competition at home 

 with oysters of natural growth, and enjoys only a small advantage in its own market in the 

 matter of nearness over the Maryland and Virginia fields. 



The two sides of th bay, being in different States, under different laws, and affected by 

 different circumstances, present too great diversity to be treated as one. 



On the western shore of the bay, in the State of Delaware, are laid down every spring a vast 

 number of half-grown oysters from Virginia, as has been explained ; but in addition to this there 

 is an almost equal business in the raising of oysters from local seed. 



The planting-grounds lie chiefly opposite the central part of the State, the villages of Little 

 Creek Landing and Mahon's Ditch, close to Dover, being the homes of most of the oystermen. 

 The beds are chiefly so near shore as to be in less than 10 feet depth of water, though some an- 

 as deep as 15 feet at low tide. Various sorts of bottom occur, but stiff mud is preferred. In the 

 course of a dozen years' planting on such a spot, the mud, by accumulation of shells and refuse, 

 is converted into a solid surface. It thus is made suitable for the deposit of spawn and the 

 growth of young oysters, which, proceeding continuously, replaces the formerly barren bottom 

 with a genuine natural bed, or "oyster-rock." The title to the plot is not disputed, however, as 

 it would be in some districts, because of this change, and the ground becomes extremely valuable, 

 since it forms a natural nursery. This title is derived from the laws of* the State, which allow 

 any one to appropriate for planting purposes not to exceed 15 acres of bottom within certain 

 limits (and excepting all areas where oysters have previously grown naturally), upon the payment 

 of certain fees annually, in addition to which the boats employed by the planter must be licensed, 

 I he charge being made at a higher rate than for a license simply to gather wild oysters from the 

 public banks. In return the State gives to the property of the planter beneath as well as above the 

 waves, not only the protection of rigid and plain-spoken laws, but of an efficient police. 



As all taking of oysters in public waters is prohibited in summer, the oystermau's year of 

 labor begins on the 1st of September. It is in the fall that he procures nearly all the native 

 seed that he proposes to plant, and his titne is very fully occupied at that season. Though con- 

 tinual dredging is pursued on the home-beds, where natural oysters grow, by no means sufficient 

 seed is gathered then- to supply the demand. The inshore creek beds of the State furnish about 

 40,000 bushels of seed which would count 800 to the bushel. The off-shore beds, in the deeper 

 waters, but within State limits, yield about 170,000 bushels. In addition to this there arc 

 planted about 100,000 bushels of seed that grew on the New Jersey side, the procuring of which 

 is an evasion of the New Jersey law which prohibits taking any seed from her beds to be planted 

 outside of the State. This evasion and its methods are perfectly well understood by everybody 

 concerned, and if there is a way to put a stop to it (the extreme desirability of which does not 

 appear) no one exerts himself to do so at least, no one on the Delaware side. The seed is 

 roughly culled. 



It is the custom here to allow native oysters to lie two winters before sending to market. 

 There are occasional exceptions, but to dispose of a native bed at the end of a single year's growth 



