THE OYoTER INDUSTRY. 525 



THE CHESAPEAKE REGION. Planting in Chesapeake Bay is confined almost wholly to the 

 Virginia shore. Previous to tin- late war the oystermen of Virginia were composed of negro slaves, 

 working for their masters, and of a rough class of whites ; but at the close of the war the demand 

 for oysters was very gn-at, and many persons who had been reduced to poverty were glad to avail 

 themselves of this chance to make a support. When the trade revived the beds were well stocked 

 with large finely flavored oysters. Men from nearly all occupations, representing all classes of 

 society, eagerly entered the business, and soon there were hundreds of oystermeu where formerly 

 there had been but a dozen or so. Many of the most extensive farmers in the tidewater counties 

 found that the condition of labor had so greatly changed that to make a living it was necessary 

 for them to devote all spare time to the oyster trade. This is still done to a considerable extent 

 by those whose farms border on salt water; but the great bulk of the trade is in the hands of a 

 rougher class, and in certain parts of the State it is almost monopolized by negroes. A very 

 noticeable fact is the almost total absence of foreigners, or of men from other States. 



The law of Virginia forbids dredging upon the natural beds or " rocks," and general senti- 

 ment discourages, to the extent of practical prohibition, the use of the dredge upon private ground. 

 The planted beds are staked off with poles, sometimes fifty to a hundred yards apart. The 

 dredgers sailing over one bed can scarcely, even if so disposed, keep from crossing the line which 

 separates adjoining beds, while a door is opened to dishonesty. The gathering of seed oysters is 

 theiefore done by touging. Where the business is carried on in a small way, the planters and their 

 assistants go in skiffs and canoes to the banks and load as fast as possible. Larger planters, or 

 those who have a greater distance to travel between the seed beds and the planting-grounds, as is 

 the case especially with the planters of Chincoteague, Lynn Haven Bay, and the Hampton Roads, 

 send sloops and small schooners to be loaded partly or wholly by buying of the local tongmen. 



Oyster-touging involves great exposure, hard labor, and some risk, and the men engaged in 

 it are mostly adult males in the vigor of health. The injury to health from exposure is so great 

 that few ever reach old age. The death rate among oystermen, as compared with other trades, is 

 very great. Nor does oyster-tonging give returns in proportion to labor expended. The element 

 of chance is a large one. A clear, smooth water, with its opportunities for "coveiug," permits 

 the fisherman to gather in one day what he may not realize by a week's exertion in stormy and 

 tempestuous weather. The influence of these uncertainties upon the habits and thrift of the men 

 is plainly marked, particularly in dislike of steady industry. Few of them ever pretend to work 

 on Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, and, as a rule, they are poverty-stricken to the last degree. The 

 Tenth Census enumerated nearly 12,000 tongmeu in Virginia, besides 2,000 more engaged on 

 larger vessels. The average earnings of these were placed at about $200 annually. Between four 

 and five thousand skiffs and canoes were in use, and about thirteen hundred sailing vessels, the 

 most of which were connected with planting operations. 



The most productive region for procuring seed is the James Uiver, which is almost paved with 

 a native oyster growth from its mouth nearly to Jamestown. Certain richer tracts, often measur- 

 ing some hundreds of acres, and denominated shoals, form centers of tonging-work ; and on these, 

 in the fall, and again in the spring, will gather a crowd of canoes and a fleet of the sail-boats sent 

 by distant planters to buy the products of the canoeman's daily labor. In midwinter, when the 

 heavy planters are busy marketing their crops, the tongmen are idle, or are attending to their own 

 little cove beds, and culling out a few bushels a day for sale. Here comes in the art of " coving," a 

 word which arose from the fact that in old times the finest oysters were found in the little sheltered 

 bays or coves that indent the shores. These were single and, having grown under favorable cir- 

 cumstances were of large size and good quality. On days when the water is clear and smooth 



