MARYLAND: OYSTER INDUSTRY. 441 



The capital invested iu oyster-boats is as follows : 



700 dredgers, at $1,500 $1,050,000 



Outfit of same .__ 70,000 



5U) scrapers, at $800 440,000 



200 runners, at $1,500 300,000 



1,825 canoes, at $100. 182,500 



3,275 



Total 2,042,500 



The amount annually expended for repairs to these vessels, as near as I can calculate from 

 reports received from ship-builders, is $102,500, of which probably $75,000 is received by carpenters, 

 sailinakers, and other workmen. 



SHIPMENTS OF OYSTEKS IN SHELL. From the prolific beds of the Chesapeake Bay immense 

 quantities of oysters are yearly taken for bedding in Northern waters, and also for immediate con- 

 sumption in the principal cities along the coast from the bay to Portland, Me. It is not the West 

 alone which is dependent upon the Chesapeake for oysters, for without the supplies annually 

 drawn from this bay the Atlantic coast from Delaware to Maine would be but poorly supplied. 

 The Chesapeake is the great storehouse from which several millions of bushels of oysters are annu- 

 ally carried to restock the exhausted beds of other localities. More than two hundred vessels, 

 averaging in value about $3,000 each, are for eight months of the year engaged in the trade between 

 the bay and Northern markets. During the winter the oysters which are taken North are used for 

 immediate local consumption, with the exception of those carried to Fair Haven. Conn., which are 

 packed and shipped elsewhere; those taken in the spring are used almost exclusively for bedding 

 purposes. At Seaford, Del., there is quite an extensive packing trade Maryland oysters being 

 used. It is well known that oysters are eaten during the summer at the North much more exten- 

 sively than in Maryland and Virginia. I have been told by Capt. J. T. Bolton, of Norfolk, who 

 was for a long time in the trade, that all oysters eaten iu Northern cities in summer are of those 

 which were taken in the previous spring from the Chesapeake and bedded in Northern waters; 

 that the change of water prevents the oysters from spawning until late in the fall, and for this 

 reason they are considered suitable for eating. This statement may be correct so far as concerns 

 the effect upon the oysters of change of water, but I scarcely think that has much to do with the 

 consumption of them, for it is now believed by many that oysters are equally as good during the 

 spawning season as at any other time. Evidence of this may be seen in the growing custom in 

 Maryland and Virginia of using oysters very freely during the summer, and those who eat them 

 maintain that they are in no way inferior to oysters caught in winter. While visiting Chincoteague 

 Island, Virginia, in May, I ate very heartily of oysters, and found them as finely flavored as any I 

 had ever eaten ; the thermometer was then about 80 in the shade. During the early part of July 

 I was on board a bay steamer where it became necessary to eat oysters or go without supper, and 

 preferring the former course, I found the oysters remarkably good. 



Among many intelligent men, both iu Maryland and Virginia, there is great opposition to 

 the shipment of oysters in shell to Northern markets. They claim, and justly, too, that the packing 

 trade of the two States would be much more largely developed if Northern cities were unable to 

 buy oysters in the shell, and as the shucking of oysters gives employment to such a number of 

 people, they hold that it would be a wise policy to heavily tax all oysters shipped in the shell. It 

 is very questionable, however, whether such a measure would be constitutional. Two great objec- 

 tions which might also be urged against the system arc that the majority of oysters shipped North 

 are purchased late in the spring, when the packing trade is about over, at prices necessarily low, 



