442 



GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



and that tbe beds are seriously injured by being disturbed after the commencement of the spawning 

 season. The oysters purchased and taken North in the spring for bedding would, if allowed to 

 remain until the fall and then sold for immediate use, bring nearly $500,000 more than they now 

 sell for; that is, there would be a yearly gain to the oystermen of Maryland and Virginia of nearly 

 $500,000. There being iu the spring no home demand for them, they sell sometimes as low as 4 

 cents a bushel, and from that up to 12 and 15. In the spring of 1879 a vessel loaded in the Great 

 Choptank River with 16,000 bushels, costing $640, or just 4 cents a bushel. These oysters are 

 taken North and planted, where they grow very rapidly, and during the following fall and winter 

 they come iu competition with oysters from Maryland and "Virginia packers. 



During the spring of 1879 Capt. Samuel M. Travers, of the oyster-police force, directed his 

 deputy commanders to board all vessels loading with plants for Northern waters and obtain the 

 number of bushels taken. He has favored me with the result, which is as follows: 



Busliela. 

 Tangier Sound and tributaries 353,750 



Nanticoke River and Fishing Bay 125,000 



Little Choptauk River 125,000 



Greak Choptank River 375,000 



Eastern Bay 62,500 



Chester River 250,000 



Anne Arundel County waters 112,500 



Patuxent River and tributaries 150, 000 



Potomac River and tributaries 625, 000 



Total 2,178,700 



The average price paid was 7 cents a bushel. Owing to the action of the State legislature 

 at its last sessiou, in forbidding the catching of oysters after April 15, the shipments from Mary- 

 laud waters iu the spring of 1880 were much smaller than for the previous year. I endeavored to 

 ascertain the shipments for immediate consumption as well as for planting during the season of 

 1S79-'80, and through the generous assistance of many correspondents in Northern cities, and of 

 Mr. Ernest Ingersoll, who had general charge of the oyster investigation north of the Chesapeake, 

 I was enabled to compile the following: 



Shipments of oysters in shell from Marijhintl waters from May 31, 1879, to May 31, 1880. 



The vessels engaged iu carrying oysters from the Chesapeake to the North are generally 

 owned iu the cities to which they run, and statistics concerning them are included in reports ou 

 those cities. The total number of carriers employed is about two hundred, with a present aggre- 



